Kari Lake, a Republican, said on Tuesday that she will run for U.S. Senate in Arizona in 2024.
“I think God has bigger plans for us,” Lake told a crowd in Scottsdale at the start of her campaign. She was talking about how close she came to winning governor last year. The U.S. Senate is part of these bigger plans.
“This mama bear has a whole lot of fight left in her,” she added. “Our nation, our children’s future is on the verge of collapse…We’ve got one year to save this country.”
In a video message, Lake showed, former President Donald Trump backed her for the Senate.
Trump speaking by video at Kari Lake’s US Senate race announcement pic.twitter.com/6RV30blCcS
— Rachel Alexander (@Rach_IC) October 11, 2023
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who used to be a Democrat but is now an independent, hasn’t said if she will run for her old spot again, but she will.
Rep. Ruben Gallego is the most popular choice for the Democratic ticket.
Chief of Police for Pinal County, Mark Lamb, is Lake’s main GOP primary opponent.
In August, an Emerson College study of Arizona voters found that Lake had 42% of the vote, Lamb had 11%, and Blake Masters, the GOP candidate for Senate in 2022, had 7%. Two-thirds of those polled were not sure what they would do.
The poll was given to 1,337 eligible voters from August 2–4 and has a margin of error of +/– 2.6%.
Since she beat everyone else to win the GOP primary for governor of Arizona in 2022, Lake has become a national Republican star.
I'm the only mom in the race.
And every decision I make is going to be made with our children in mind, with our families in mind.
I will answer to you, the people of Arizona. pic.twitter.com/fDvOxus0v9
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) October 11, 2023
As many as 132 of the 223 voting places in Maricopa County had problems with their ballot printers on Election Day last fall. This, along with Lake’s later court challenge of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ win, has raised her profile in the Republican Party across the country.
Hobbs won the election by a majority of 0.7 percentage points, or about 17,000 votes out of about 2.5 million that were cast.
It was said as early as January that Lake would run for the Senate spot that Sinema currently holds.
@KariLake takes the stage to “American Woman.” pic.twitter.com/LZ15yvUVPn
— Randy DeSoto (@RandyDeSoto) October 11, 2023
Gallego, who is generally to the left of Sinema, ran against her in the primary.
Three hundred thirty-eight says that Gallego voted with President Joe Biden every time during the last Congress, while Sinema voted with him 93.3 percent of the time.
This week, two polls showed that the race between Lake, Gallego, and Sinema could be very close up to the first two.
A poll by National Research Inc. from October 7–9 of 400 potential voters put Lake in first place with 37% of the vote, followed by Gallego with 33% and Sinema with 19%.
2024 Arizona Senate GE:
Lake (R) 37% (+4)
Gallego (D) 33%
Sinema (I-inc) 19%
.
Head-2-Head:
Lake (R) 44%
Gallego (D) 44%National Research Inc., 400 LV, 10/7-9https://t.co/uve0kZp5LV pic.twitter.com/RrdtbdTEhn
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) October 10, 2023
A Public Policy Poll paid for by Gallego’s campaign showed that he had a 41–36 percent lead over Lake, with Sinema getting 15 percent.
The poll was given to 522 Arizona voters on October 6 and 7. There is a +/- 4.3 percentage point error range.
“This next year, I want to warn you, is going to be even crazier and nastier than the last election cycle,” in terms of the media coverage, Lake predicted, but she pledged not to be distracted and encouraged her supporters not to be either.
I want to give you guys a pro tip since I worked three decades in the media. It's always opposite day with the media.
Whatever they say, assume the polar opposite. The people they attack the most, i .e. President Trump, are the people who are fighting for you the most. pic.twitter.com/fBdtatp4N2
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) October 11, 2023
If Sinema runs, it could be a very close three-way race next fall. Lake seems like the clear favorite to be the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate.