Kari Lake’s Senate Bid in Arizona Ends with Tight Defeat to Reuben Gallego
Kari Lake, a former Arizona broadcaster and the GOP's Senate contender, has narrowly lost her race to Democratic Representative Reuben Gallego, marking another political setback following her unsuccessful 2022 gubernatorial bid.
Gallego, who has represented a Phoenix-centered House district for close to a decade, is set to replace outgoing Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). Sinema, who transitioned from Democrat to Independent last year, opted not to run for another term amid doubts about her ability to secure re-election, according to The Hill.
Gallego entered the race even before Sinema formally announced she would not seek re-election, briefly putting Senate Democrats in a tough spot with the possibility of having two Democratic contenders.
The Arizona Democrat highlighted his upbringing by a single mother and his family roots in Mexico and Colombia, along with his Marine Corps service, as key aspects of his background, The Hill reported.
This win represents a crucial but modest gain for Democrats, who generally faced a tough election cycle. While they held onto Senate seats in battlegrounds like Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona, they suffered losses in Ohio, Montana, West Virginia, and appear poised to lose in Pennsylvania as well. Adding to the setbacks, they lost control of the White House, and their hold on the House is also in jeopardy.
Lake, a former local news anchor, had also gained attention during her 2022 gubernatorial campaign for her strong stance on election denial—a position that lingered as a point of contention in her Senate run, even as she continued to contest her previous loss in court.
During her Senate campaign, Lake reiterated that she would not back a federal abortion ban, stating instead that “abortion restrictions should be left up to the states,” although she had previously supported an 1864 law that nearly banned all abortions in Arizona, according to the outlet.
Gallego, meanwhile, faced scrutiny over his record and his position on border issues, with critics questioning if his views had shifted. Some highlighted past remarks where he labeled Trump’s border wall as “stupid” and “dumb.”
A former member of the House Progressive Caucus, Gallego eventually allowed his membership to lapse, attributing it to dues. Republicans worked to nationalize the Arizona Senate race, airing ads connecting Gallego to leading Democrats like Vice President Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
In the presidential race, Trump managed to carry Arizona after winning it in 2016 but narrowly losing to Joe Biden in 2020.
NBC News recently noted that “the once firmly GOP-controlled state has put into office a Democratic governor, two Democratic senators, and other statewide officials” over the last cycle. The outlet highlighted that “a fast-growing Latino population and a revolt against Trump among some old-line Republicans put the once-red state into battleground territory.” Biden’s 2020 Arizona win marked only the second time in 28 years that Arizona’s electoral votes went to a Democrat, NBC added.
“Still, many of those Democratic victories have been by the slimmest of margins,” with Arizona ranking as the second-closest state in the 2020 presidential race, where Biden edged out Trump by just 0.3 percentage points, NBC reported.
In the lead-up to the 2024 election, polls showed Trump slightly ahead of Harris in Arizona, though often within the margin of error. Despite the Harris campaign outspending and out-organizing Trump’s efforts in Arizona, Republicans saw an uptick in voter registrations.
NBC further observed that Arizona’s political landscape is “a good fit” for Trump’s focus on the economy and immigration as central campaign themes.