Kari Lake aims to win GOP primary for closely watched Arizona Senate race
PHOENIX — PHOENIX (AP) — Kari Lake hopes to easily win the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Arizona on Tuesday, setting up a fierce battle with the Democratic U.S. representative. Ruben Gallego for a seat that could be crucial in deciding control of the Senate.
In Maricopa County, which includes metro Phoenix and 60% of Arizona voters, Republicans will also choose from a group of incumbent representatives who ran against former President Donald Trumps lies about the 2020 election and its challengers claiming it was stolen.
The primaries offer insight into the direction the closely divided state is headed into the final elections of 2024, when Arizona will be at the center of the battle for control of the White House and Congress.
Gallego has no opponent in the Democratic primary for Senate.
“Go vote,” Trump urged his supporters on a conference call with Lake on Monday night. “She’s fantastic. She’s not going to let us down. Kari Lake, I just think she’s going to be as good as you can get. There’s nobody better.”
The once crowded field of Republicans running for the Senate race thinned when Lake, who built a national profile in Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in an unsuccessful bid to become Arizona governor in 2022, made it clear she planned to run for the seat.
Her GOP opponent is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who says he is the more electable and best candidate to secure the border. But he has struggled to raise the money needed to put his case before voters. Through the end of June, Lake had raised $10.3 million, compared to Lamb’s $2 million.
The winner will face Gallego in the race to replace the senator. Kyrsten Sinemawho was elected as a Democrat in 2018 but left the party to become an independent after her standing among the Democratic base collapsed. Sinema considered running as an independent but decided against it.
Lake entered politics after leaving the news anchor desk at Fox’s Phoenix affiliate and quickly became a rising star on the right. Grassroots Republicans were drawn to her sharp criticism of her former colleagues in the news media, her tough talk on border security and her unwavering support for Trump, who briefly considered her as his running mate.
“We look forward to having you back in Washington, D.C.,” Lake told Trump during the conference call Monday. “And I look forward to helping you and making sure this country gets back on track.”
She defeated an establishment-backed Republican in the 2022 primary for governor of Arizona, but narrowly lost the general election. Convinced she had victory in her hands after winning the primary, Lake did not move to the center or work to unite Republicans behind her.
Since launching her Senate campaign late last year, Lake has made strenuous efforts to moderate her most unpopular positions, but she has not been consistent. She rejected a near-total ban on abortion in Arizona that she had previously called “a great bill” but later spoke favorably about it.
She has at times steered clear of false claims of election fraud, but she continues to try to overturn her loss in the race for governor. Just this month, she filed a petition with the Arizona Supreme Court to take up the issue, though the justices, all appointed by Republican governors, have already rejected her claims.
Meanwhile, Republican voters in Maricopa County are getting their first chance to oust elected officials who failed to embrace Trump and Lake’s false claims that the 2020 and 2022 elections were rigged. Recorder Stephen Richer, one of the elected officials responsible for administering elections, has become a pariah on the right for his aggressive defense of election integrity. Several members of the county board of supervisors are also facing challengers aligned with Trump’s MAGA movement.
Republicans also have an eclectic group of candidates vying to replace retiring GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko in a safely Republican district. The field includes Blake Masters and Abraham Hamadeh, former allies who have bitterly turned on each other since both lost their 2022 campaigns. A state lawmaker indicted for his involvement in Trump’s voter fraud scheme is also running, along with former Rep. Trent Franks, who resigned in 2017 after two aides said he sexually harassed them by asking them to carry a child via surrogacy.
On the Democratic side, voters will decide two closely fought primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Phoenix area.
The winner in the 1st Congressional District will face Republican Rep. David Schweikert, who represents a wealthy district centered on Scottsdale that is an example of the changing makeup of the political parties.
Two Democrats also face off in a bitter primary in the 3rd District, a safely Democratic district that encompasses the heart of West Phoenix’s Hispanic community. The Democratic candidate is heavily favored to replace Gallego in November.