Kari Lake announced her decision to run for U.S. Senate during a Tuesday evening rally in Scottsdale.
Lake, a Republican who lost narrowly to Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs in the 2022 gubernatorial election, has been traveling the country as a surrogate for the Trump campaign while simultaneously waging a long legal battle to be declared the winner in the Governor’s race. Lake was welcomed back to Arizona by her opponent in the Republican Primary, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.
“There is only one proven conservative winner that is running for the U.S. Senate, and that is me. I am a lifelong conservative who has dedicated my life to protecting Arizonans and keeping them safe when Democrat policies make that job almost impossible. I have been in Arizona fighting for the people that call this great state home. I’m not a talker, I’m a doer, and I win elections. That is what separates me from my opponents,” said Lamb referring to the facts that Lake had been a Democrat who supported President Obama and called now-Attorney General Merrick Garland a centrist during his failed Supreme Court bid, among her many former positions.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, the lone candidate in the Democratic Party Primary also welcome Lake to the race.
“Welcome to the race @KariLake,” Gallego tweeted. “I look forward to substantive discussions on *checks notes* your plan to ban abortion without exception, your undermining of our democracy, and threats of violence. That’s why voters rejected you the first time around and we’ll do it again.”
Lake responded to Gallego, “I am running to make sure that your children don’t have to suffer under this unhinged Marxists’ policies.@RubenGallego has destroyed his district. I won’t let him do it to the rest of our wonderful state. This guy doesn’t scare me.”
Arizona,
I am running to make sure that your children don’t have to suffer under this unhinged Marxists’ policies.@RubenGallego has destroyed his district. I won’t let him do it to the rest of our wonderful state.
This guy doesn’t scare me.https://t.co/gzafSvNeDz https://t.co/EHDIvYlisk
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) October 11, 2023
As part of her announcement, she was endorsed in the contest by former President Donald Trump, who Lake once referred to as “the most important man in my life.” Trump’s video announcement confirmed that Lake has Trump’s “complete and total endorsement.”
“The Trump endorsement is still valuable in a Republican primary, even if it can be a real anchor in general elections.” said one GOP consultant when asked about the race. “Look at 2022 and how many seats the Republicans lost in races where they should have won, all because Trump endorsed bad candidates like Dr. Oz, Blake Masters, and others.”
Lake, who never conceded the governor’s race, is considered the front-runner in the Republican Primary, and faces a potentially historic 3-way general election that may feature incumbent Senator Kyrsten Sinema running as an Independent.
“Kari Lake can win, but she’s going to have to run a different campaign than she ran two years ago, and she’s going to have to become a serious candidate who talks about serious issues that everyday Republican and independent voters care about,” Chris Baker, an Arizona-based Republican political consultant, told The Associated Press. “And she hasn’t done a lot of that this year.”