Republican Kari Lake announced Tuesday that she will be running for U.S. Senate in Arizona in 2024.
“I think God has bigger plans for us,” Lake told a crowd gathered in Scottsdale for her campaign kickoff, regarding her near win for governor last year. And those bigger plans include the U.S. Senate.
“This mama bear has a whole lot of fight left in her,” she added. “Our nation, our children’s future is on the edge of collapse…We’ve got one year to save this country.”
She will seek to replace Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who has yet to announce if she will run to hold her seat.
The leading candidate for the Democratic nomination is Rep. Ruben Gallego.
Lake’s top GOP primary opponent is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.
An Emerson College poll of Arizona voters released in August showed Lake leading Lamb 42 percent to 11 percent and 2022 GOP Senate nominee Blake Masters with 7 percent, with 28 percent of respondents undecided.
The survey was conducted from Aug. 2-4 among 1,337 registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent.
Lake has been a star on the national Republican stage since her come-from-behind victory in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary race in Arizona.
Do you support Kari Lake being Arizona’s next U.S. senator?
Yes: 100% (5 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
Ironically, the Election Day chaos last fall — when ballot printers malfunctioned in Maricopa County in as many as 132 of the 223 polling places — and her subsequent legal challenge of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ win have increased Lake’s stature in the Republican Party nationally.
Hobbs carried the contest with a 0.7 percentage point margin of victory or about 17,000 votes of the approximately 2.5 million cast.
As early as January, rumors began circulating that Lake would run for the Senate seat held by Sinema.
Sinema faced a primary challenge from Gallego, who is left of the senator politically.
Gallego voted with President Joe Biden 100 percent of the time during the last Congress, while Sinema was with him 93.3 percent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Two polls released this week show potential three-way race between Lake, Gallego and Sinema to be very close between the first two.
A National Research Inc. survey conducted Oct. 7-9 with 400 likely voters, showed Lake in the lead with 37 percent support, followed by Gallego at 33 percent and Sinema with 19 percent.
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
Meanwhile, a Public Policy Poll commissioned by Gallego’s campaign showed him with a 41 to 36 percent lead over Lake, with Sinema garnering 15 percent.
The survey was conducted Oct. 6-7 with 522 Arizona voters. The margin of error is +/- 4.3 percentage points.
“This next year is going to be even nastier in than the last campaign” in terms of the media coverage, Lake predicted, but she pledged not to be distracted and encouraged her supporters not to be either.
Lake looks very well-positioned to be the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, and then an unpredictable three-way race, should Sinema join, will play out next fall.
