In Arizona, November is here.
The Associated Press announced on Tuesday that Kari Lak, a former Phoenix News Anchor who lost her previous race for Arizona Governor in 2022 will be the Republican nominee in the Senate General Election contest after beating her primary opponent Pinal County Sherriff Mark Lamb.
PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) – Kari Lake has won the Republican nomination in Arizona for U.S. Senate. She will now face a tough battle with Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego to win a seat that could decide Senate control.
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The primary will provide insight into where Arizona, a state that is currently divided, is heading in the final sprint before the 2024 elections when Arizona will be at the center of the battle for the White House and Congress.
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Trump told his supporters to vote during a phone rally with Lake Monday night. “She’s fantastic. She won’t let us down. Kari Lake is going to be the best you can find. “There’s no one going to be more.”
As expected, Rep. Ruben Galego won the Democratic primary with ease (as AP reported in the linked story, he was unopposed). Gallego entered the race as a left-wing challenger to Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I), a senator who, it appears, was pushed out of the race for reelection in Copper State by progressive activists. Sinema switched her party affiliation from Democratic to Independent after she voted “nay”, thereby helping to defeat the Democrats’ prized filibuster legislation. She continued to caucus in the Dems.
Lake’s post on X, just moments before AP announced the result in her favor was a thank-you message to her followers. The post also appears to introduce a slogan for the general elections race: Make Arizona Grand Again. This is a play on the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s famous catchphrase.
Thank you for putting your faith in me, Arizona.
I won’t let you down.
Together, we’re going to save this state.
Together, we’re going to #MakeArizonaGrandAgain. pic.twitter.com/eW0Q9TTFVV
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) July 31, 2024
She accepted the Republican nomination at a Phoenix campaign rally shortly after.
Arizona,
I stand before you today to officially accept your nomination as the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from the great state of Arizona! pic.twitter.com/XuaRHFJzob
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) July 31, 2024
Lamb, the loser candidate in the GOP Senate race, was also praised by the new nominee for Senate as “[her]” friend.
.@sherifflamb1 was never an opponent. He’s my friend.
I truly appreciate everything he’s given to Arizona, and I know he’s not done fighting for it. He’s not done protecting it.
He ran a great campaign, and I look forward to working together with him in the future. pic.twitter.com/qdf1oFuPFo
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) July 31, 2024
Garrett Archer, a local ABC affiliate reporter, showed how easy it was to see why AP had called the race.
First results Maricopa:
Kari Lake: 53%
Mark Lamb 40%309k ballots.
— The AZ – abc15 – Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) July 31, 2024
UPDATE: Archer reported earlier that the “County of Apache” had dropped 2,828 votes, bringing the total to:
Lake 57
Lamb 39
He noted that “she added another 226 pounds to her net.”
