Kari Lake, a well-known confidante of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has officially declared her intention to run for a Senate seat in Arizona in the upcoming 2024 election race. Known for her staunch belief in electoral fraud related to the 2020 presidential elections, Lake has become a prominent figure in the Republican Party.
She is focusing her ambition on the custodian of the coveted Senate chair, Kyrsten Sinema, whose allegiance to the Democratic party waned in December, rendering her an independent Senator. The jury’s still out on Sinema’s decision about running for a second term. Simultaneously, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego has thrown his hat in the ring, adding an element of intrigue to the forthcoming three-sided Senate contest.
Lake’s proclamation to her supporters showed her grit and resolve: “I am not going to retreat. I’m standing on top of this hill with every single one of you, as I officially declare my run for the United States Senate.”
Surprising the crowd midway through her announcement, Lake introduced a pre-recorded endorsement from her political ally, Trump. Once a celebrated television journalist in Arizona, Lake has cast her political persona and her previous gubernatorial campaign around her unfaltering support for Trump’s unfounded allegations regarding electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
In addition to the controversial claims, Lake has maintained that she reigned victorious in the last fall’s election against Democrat Katie Hobbs, the current governor, despite a lack of supporting evidence. A string of legal losses followed Lake’s efforts to challenge the election results, where she was defeated by a margin of over 17,000 votes.
Preliminary paperwork to enter the Senate race had already been filed by Lake before Tuesday’s formal announcement in Scottsdale. The past week saw her, in consultation with a handful of GOP Senators, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Sen. Steve Daines, the head of the Senate GOP campaign, lauded her, saying, “We have had constructive dialogues with Kari Lake and her team. She is a gifted campaigner with a remarkable knack for galvanizing the grassroots. We foresee a clear path to victory with two Democrats on the Arizona ballot.”
Democrats have managed to clinch victories in the last three U.S. Senate elections in Arizona, a state long known as a Republican bastion. However, the Republican Party suffered a series of losses in the recent state-wide races, losing critical positions including the governor and the secretary of state.
Figures supporting election fraud theories like Lake have begun to establish a stronghold in Arizona’s GOP. Several Trump-loyal candidates have emerged victorious against the more traditional candidates in recent Republican primaries, only to fall short in the general elections. Nonetheless, Republicans successfully continue to dominate most state-wide executive offices and the state legislature.
Ruben Gallego, a retired Marine and a congressman from the Phoenix area, also declared his candidacy in January, advocating for the less fortunate by stating, “The rich and the powerful, they don’t need more advocates. It’s those who choose between groceries and utilities who need a fighter for them.”
Meanwhile, Lake isn’t the only one aligning with Trump’s election theories within the Republican ranks—Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb entered the Republican raceback in April.
