Kari Lake to be keynote speaker at Georgia GOP convention

Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is slated to be the keynote speaker for the Georgia GOP convention next week after former Vice President Mike Pence stepped down from the slot.

Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer sent an email to delegates explaining Pence canceled due to a “televised national town hall at which he will be making an announcement regarding his future plans.” He added that Pence will be sending video greetings to the conference instead.

Shafer said in the email that Lake, who has yet to concede her 2022 loss in the Arizona governor’s race, was chosen as the replacement.

“I heard Kari Lake speak at our last Republican National Committee meeting and look forward to welcoming her to the Peach State,” Shafer wrote in the email.

According to the Georgia GOP website, the convention will be June 9 and 10.

Other GOP presidential hopefuls — including Republican front-runner former President Trump — will attend the convention. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also will be there, the email stated.

Pence has yet to officially declare a bid for the White House, but he has been mulling a run over the last few months.

CNN announced earlier this month that it will host a town hall with Pence on June 7. Pence also said in mid-April that his decision on whether he will run in 2024 would come in a matter of “weeks and not months.”

Since her narrow defeat in Arizona, Lake has maintained that voter fraud prevented her from winning and has filed multiple lawsuits challenging her loss.

Earlier this month, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled that Lake did not prove that Maricopa County did not verify signatures on mail-in ballots as the law requires, which ended her last legal challenge to the election.

Updated at 2:11 pm ET.

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