useapen
2024-07-31 07:46:04 UTC
PHOENIX (AP) Kari Lake won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in
Arizona on Tuesday, setting up a fierce battle against Democratic U.S.
Rep. Ruben Gallego for a seat that could be crucial to deciding Senate
control.
In Maricopa County, which includes metro Phoenix and 60% of Arizonas
voters, Republicans also were choosing between a slate of incumbents who
have stood up to former President Donald Trumps lies about the 2020
election and challengers who claim it was stolen.
The primary will give insights about where the narrowly divided state is
headed going into the final sprint of the 2024 election, when Arizona is
central to the fight for control of the White House and Congress.
Gallego ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for Senate.
Accepting victory Tuesday night, Lake called Trump a hero and urged his
supporters to back her as well.
He cant do this alone, Lake said. He needs backup in Washington, D.C.
And Im going to be his backup.
The once-crowded field of Republicans looking at the Senate race thinned
out when Lake, who built a national profile in Trumps Make America Great
Again movement in an unsuccessful 2022 bid for Arizona governor, made
clear she planned to run for the seat.
Lake defeated Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who had contended he is more
electable and the best candidate to secure the border. But he struggled to
raise the money needed to make his case to voters. Through the end of
June, Lake had raised $10.3 million compared with Lambs $2 million.
Lake faces Gallego in the race to replace Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was
elected as a Democrat in 2018 but left the party to become an independent
after her standing among the Democratic base cratered. Sinema considered
running as an independent but opted against it.
Lake entered politics after leaving the news anchor desk at the Phoenix
Fox affiliate and quickly became a rising star on the right. Grassroots
Republicans were drawn to her biting critiques of her former colleagues in
the news media, her tough talk on border security and her unwavering
support for Trump, who for a time considered her for his running mate.
Go vote, Trump urged supporters in a telephone rally with Lake on Monday
evening. Shes fantastic. She will not let us down. Kari Lake, I just
think shes going to be as good as you can get. Theres nobody going to be
better.
She defeated an establishment-backed Republican in the 2022 primary for
Arizona governor but narrowly lost the general election. Convinced she had
victory in hand after winning the primary, Lake did not move toward the
center or work to unify Republicans behind her.
This time, Lake made gestures toward unity, inviting people who didnt
vote for her to join her. She said she will need people from all walks of
life and told traditional Republicans from the GOP establishment that
we love you. But she also framed the general election as a battle
between good and evil and between the people who want to destroy this
country and the people who want to save America.
Gallego, she said, is an extreme liberal Democrat from Chicago who is
aligned with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Since launching her Senate campaign late last year, Lake has made fitful
efforts to moderate her most unpopular views but has not been consistent.
She disavowed a near-total ban on abortion in Arizona, which shed
previously called a great law, but later spoke favorably for it.
She has at times steered clear of false claims of election fraud, but she
continues trying to overturn her loss in the race for governor. Just this
month she filed a longshot request for the Arizona Supreme Court to take
up the issue, though the justices, all of whom were appointed by
Republican governors, have already rejected her claims.
Meanwhile, Republican voters in Maricopa County got their first chance to
oust elected officials who did not embrace Trumps and Lakes false claims
that the 2020 and 2022 elections were rigged. Recorder Stephen Richer, one
of the elected officials responsible for administering elections, has
become a pariah on the right for aggressively defending the integrity of
elections. Richer narrowly trailed Justin Heap, a state legislator backed
by Lake.
Races for the county board of supervisors, which also plays a major role
in running elections, were a mixed bag, with establishment-backed
candidates winning in some districts while Republicans aligned with
Trumps MAGA movement led elsewhere.
The feeling that elections are rigged against Republicans has permeated
the Arizona GOP, though judges, election experts and Trumps own attorney
general have repeatedly rejected claims of widespread fraud.
I think that theres primarily the discussion about how to do the
elections and how to do them less corruptly, said Barb Schwisow, a
retired critical care nurse who sat outside a polling place at a table
full of Republican pamphlets in Sun City West, a retirement community
outside Phoenix.
Republicans also had an eclectic group of candidates vying to replace
retiring GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko in a safe Republican district. The field
includes Blake Masters and Abraham Hamadeh, one-time allies who have
turned bitterly on each other since both lost campaigns in 2022. A state
lawmaker indicted for his involvement in Trumps fake-elector scheme is
also running, along with former Rep. Trent Franks, who resigned in 2017
when two aides said he sexually harassed them by asking them to carry a
child through surrogacy. The race was too early to call.
On the Democratic side, two hotly contested U.S. House primaries in the
Phoenix area also were too early to call.
The winner in the 1st Congressional District will face Republican Rep.
David Schweikert to represent an affluent district centered in Scottsdale
that exemplifies the changing makeup of the political parties.
Two Democrats are also facing off in a bitter primary in the 3rd District,
a safe Democratic district that includes the heart of the west Phoenix
Latino community. The Democratic nominee is strongly favored in November
to replace Gallego.
https://www.krqe.com/news/politics/ap-kari-lake-aims-to-win-gop-primary-
for-closely-watched-arizona-senate-race/
Arizona on Tuesday, setting up a fierce battle against Democratic U.S.
Rep. Ruben Gallego for a seat that could be crucial to deciding Senate
control.
In Maricopa County, which includes metro Phoenix and 60% of Arizonas
voters, Republicans also were choosing between a slate of incumbents who
have stood up to former President Donald Trumps lies about the 2020
election and challengers who claim it was stolen.
The primary will give insights about where the narrowly divided state is
headed going into the final sprint of the 2024 election, when Arizona is
central to the fight for control of the White House and Congress.
Gallego ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for Senate.
Accepting victory Tuesday night, Lake called Trump a hero and urged his
supporters to back her as well.
He cant do this alone, Lake said. He needs backup in Washington, D.C.
And Im going to be his backup.
The once-crowded field of Republicans looking at the Senate race thinned
out when Lake, who built a national profile in Trumps Make America Great
Again movement in an unsuccessful 2022 bid for Arizona governor, made
clear she planned to run for the seat.
Lake defeated Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who had contended he is more
electable and the best candidate to secure the border. But he struggled to
raise the money needed to make his case to voters. Through the end of
June, Lake had raised $10.3 million compared with Lambs $2 million.
Lake faces Gallego in the race to replace Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was
elected as a Democrat in 2018 but left the party to become an independent
after her standing among the Democratic base cratered. Sinema considered
running as an independent but opted against it.
Lake entered politics after leaving the news anchor desk at the Phoenix
Fox affiliate and quickly became a rising star on the right. Grassroots
Republicans were drawn to her biting critiques of her former colleagues in
the news media, her tough talk on border security and her unwavering
support for Trump, who for a time considered her for his running mate.
Go vote, Trump urged supporters in a telephone rally with Lake on Monday
evening. Shes fantastic. She will not let us down. Kari Lake, I just
think shes going to be as good as you can get. Theres nobody going to be
better.
She defeated an establishment-backed Republican in the 2022 primary for
Arizona governor but narrowly lost the general election. Convinced she had
victory in hand after winning the primary, Lake did not move toward the
center or work to unify Republicans behind her.
This time, Lake made gestures toward unity, inviting people who didnt
vote for her to join her. She said she will need people from all walks of
life and told traditional Republicans from the GOP establishment that
we love you. But she also framed the general election as a battle
between good and evil and between the people who want to destroy this
country and the people who want to save America.
Gallego, she said, is an extreme liberal Democrat from Chicago who is
aligned with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Since launching her Senate campaign late last year, Lake has made fitful
efforts to moderate her most unpopular views but has not been consistent.
She disavowed a near-total ban on abortion in Arizona, which shed
previously called a great law, but later spoke favorably for it.
She has at times steered clear of false claims of election fraud, but she
continues trying to overturn her loss in the race for governor. Just this
month she filed a longshot request for the Arizona Supreme Court to take
up the issue, though the justices, all of whom were appointed by
Republican governors, have already rejected her claims.
Meanwhile, Republican voters in Maricopa County got their first chance to
oust elected officials who did not embrace Trumps and Lakes false claims
that the 2020 and 2022 elections were rigged. Recorder Stephen Richer, one
of the elected officials responsible for administering elections, has
become a pariah on the right for aggressively defending the integrity of
elections. Richer narrowly trailed Justin Heap, a state legislator backed
by Lake.
Races for the county board of supervisors, which also plays a major role
in running elections, were a mixed bag, with establishment-backed
candidates winning in some districts while Republicans aligned with
Trumps MAGA movement led elsewhere.
The feeling that elections are rigged against Republicans has permeated
the Arizona GOP, though judges, election experts and Trumps own attorney
general have repeatedly rejected claims of widespread fraud.
I think that theres primarily the discussion about how to do the
elections and how to do them less corruptly, said Barb Schwisow, a
retired critical care nurse who sat outside a polling place at a table
full of Republican pamphlets in Sun City West, a retirement community
outside Phoenix.
Republicans also had an eclectic group of candidates vying to replace
retiring GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko in a safe Republican district. The field
includes Blake Masters and Abraham Hamadeh, one-time allies who have
turned bitterly on each other since both lost campaigns in 2022. A state
lawmaker indicted for his involvement in Trumps fake-elector scheme is
also running, along with former Rep. Trent Franks, who resigned in 2017
when two aides said he sexually harassed them by asking them to carry a
child through surrogacy. The race was too early to call.
On the Democratic side, two hotly contested U.S. House primaries in the
Phoenix area also were too early to call.
The winner in the 1st Congressional District will face Republican Rep.
David Schweikert to represent an affluent district centered in Scottsdale
that exemplifies the changing makeup of the political parties.
Two Democrats are also facing off in a bitter primary in the 3rd District,
a safe Democratic district that includes the heart of the west Phoenix
Latino community. The Democratic nominee is strongly favored in November
to replace Gallego.
https://www.krqe.com/news/politics/ap-kari-lake-aims-to-win-gop-primary-
for-closely-watched-arizona-senate-race/