Former 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake is positioning herself in the 2024 Arizona Senate race as a conservative who can reach far beyond her base of Trump backers to win the support of John McCain-aligned conservatives and independents and Democrats.
The 54-year-old former television news anchor has her gaze set on Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-AZ) seat and plans to reach it by appealing to voters across the spectrum, but she claimed that the very media industry that she was a part of for years has wrongly portrayed her as far right.
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“I think the media has tried to label me as somebody who has extreme views,” Lake said in an interview with the Washington Examiner this week. “I am always reaching out to every voter. I want every single vote. I want the Independents, I want the Republicans and I even want the disaffected Democrats who are kind of lifting their head up going, ‘Whoa, this is not the Democrat Party we thought it was.'”
Despite Lake’s insistence that she has been wrongly painted as an extremist, she has not conceded in the 2022 governor’s election in which Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs was deemed the winner. Lake has sued over the election and backed former President Donald Trump’s erroneous claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen for President Joe Biden.
Trump has, in turn, remained loyal to Lake and endorsed her Senate bid when she announced in October. Her loyalty to Trump has fueled speculation she could land on the 2024 ticket as his vice presidential choice.
“We’ve shown the people of Arizona what happened in our elections. And while I hope that a judge has the courage to rule in accordance with the law, I’m not sure what will happen and so I’m continuing my cases because I told the people of Arizona I would take this as far as we can which would be to the Arizona Supreme Court,” Lake said.
But policy-wise, Lake is confident her views on national security, the economy, and family values have broad appeal.
“I don’t think there’s anything extreme I think it’s, it’s pro-America, pro-American family, pro-security, and pro-national security to want a secure border. I don’t think it’s extreme at all. And I’ve always touted common sense policies and solutions,” Lake said. “Unfortunately, the media tries to label me because they like to do the bidding for the Democrats. And I’m sure they’ll do the same again.”
Lake says she’s campaigning on policy issues voters care about.
“What I just have to do is get out there and explain to people what my policies are. My policies are to strengthen America, to strengthen the American family, to strengthen the American economy, to strengthen the American border, and national security, and also to make sure that we have a strong energy sector so that we can afford to heat our homes and fill our cars up and actually watch prices come back down because they’ve been so high under Joe Biden,” Lake said.
Sinema has yet to announce if she will seek re-election next year, but her shift over the past year from the Democratic Party to becoming an Independent has made the race that much more of a toss-up.
The balance of the Senate could come down to who wins Arizona. At present, Sinema, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, Republican Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, and Lake are in the running. If Sinema were not to seek re-election, her centrist supporters would be highly sought after by both sides.
In a match-up between Gallego, Lake, and Sinema, the Democrat came out on top but only by single digits, showing just how up in the air the race is, according to Noble Predictive Insights polling published in mid-November.
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“Recent reports of Lake courting moderate Republicans makes a lot of sense given the polling numbers we’ve been seeing on this contest,” pollster Mike Noble said in a statement.
Sinema and Gallego’s campaign and public offices did not respond to requests for comment.
