A cowboy-hatted Republican sheriff in Arizona is running for the Senate to compete for Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s seat.
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, a hard-nosed immigration pro Trumper who just lost his son and granddaughter in a car accident a few months ago, filed paperwork Monday to enter the race. In doing so, Lamb has become the first major GOP candidate to officially launch his campaign.
Sinema changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Independent late last year, sparking further speculation that she could be impeached by voters if she is re-elected in 2024 after becoming a spoiler of some left-wing legislative proposals in the paper-thin split upper chamber.
Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego is already running for the Democratic nomination now that Sinema is out of that primary race. He has taken the stand to attack Sinema’s record as a moderate.
Failed Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake is also considering a primary bid for Sinema’s seat in Arizona, which could turn into a bitter battle between the two MAGA-like candidates.
Arizona’s Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb filed paperwork to run for Senate in Arizona in 2024
He would compete for the seat of independent Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema (left) as her term comes to an end. She switched from her Democratic party affiliation last year, paving the way for a new Democrat to run for office. Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego (right) filled that void and entered the primary race for the Senate seat
Arizona, a state on the southern border, is second only to Texas to bear the brunt of the migration crisis — and many Republicans are pushing for tougher laws to curb the rising flow from Mexico.
Lamb has put his first priority as a senator on his live now campaign website to ‘secure the border’.
“I have fought on the front lines against the outright disaster on the southern border wrought by Joe Biden and the Democrats,” reads a statement on the priority. “Americans, especially citizens in border states like Arizona, have been betrayed by weak leadership in Washington.”
“Allowing unrestricted illegal immigration is unfair to legal immigrants who followed the rules and waited in line,” he continued. “America needs a return to sanity with a merit-based immigration system that upholds the rule of law.”
“It is a false choice that we cannot be a nation of laws and a generous, hospitable nation at the same time.”
For weeks, Lamb hinted at a flight — and his website claimed, “Washington needs a new sheriff in town.”
Whoever wins the Republican primary will likely end up in a three-way race between Sinema and Gallego.
However, Sinema has not yet said whether she will run for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2024 to continue serving alongside Democratic Senator Mark Kelly.
In recent years, Lamb has developed a more prominent personality within the conservative world – regularly appearing on Fox News to defend former President Trump and denounce President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
Lamb came under fire from liberals during the coronavirus pandemic for refusing to enforce or comply with COVID-related shutdown orders.
The sheriff supported Lake and unsuccessful Senate candidate Blake Masters, a venture capitalist, in their respective campaigns.
Arizona’s failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is also considering a 2024 Senate candidate
Lamb takes a hard line on immigration and has gone to Fox News in recent years to fight for former President Donald Trump. The two are pictured together on April 5, 2019 during the then-President’s visit to police at the southern border in Calexico, California.
Both Lake and Masters, who ran far-right campaigns, have not ruled out running for Sinema’s seat.
“If I were a gambling man, which I am not, I would bet with the farm that Kari Lake ultimately runs for the Senate,” her senior adviser Colton Duncan said in a statement.
He added: “I’m 99 percent sure she’ll run, and if she does, I’m 100 percent sure she’ll win. But right now Kari is fully committed to her legal battle.’
In a collision in December 2022, Lamb’s son Cooper and his 1-year-old daughter were pronounced dead at the scene. Cooper’s fiancée was seriously injured and in critical condition – she died about a week after the crash.
Brian Torres, 21, was driving the truck that collided with Lamb’s son and granddaughter. He was initially arrested for drunk driving and the Maricopa County Attorney filed three charges against him in February for manslaughter, a class 2 misdemeanor.
Analysis of Torres’ blood shows that he was under the legal limit of alcohol in his system to drive, but that he also had THC, the compound found in marijuana, in his system at the time of the crash. He was also driving at a speed of at least 20 miles per hour, according to Gilbert Police Department officials.