Kari Lake, the Republican candidate who narrowly lost the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election to Democrat Katie Hobbs, is reportedly gearing up to announce her campaign for Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat next month.
According to polling data gathered between April and July, Lake is poised to secure between 25 and 35 percent of the vote, positioning her as a formidable contender within the GOP, as reported by Politico, citing sources familiar with the matter. Newsweek reached out to Lake’s team for comment but received no response as of Thursday.
Lake, a former television anchor who transitioned into Republican politics and secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump during her gubernatorial campaign, has been dropping hints about her potential Senate bid for several months. Simultaneously, she remains entangled in a legal battle challenging her loss in the November 2022 election.
The Senate seat in question is currently held by Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who has since left the Democratic Party to become an Independent. While a Democratic challenger in the form of Ruben Gallego has already declared his candidacy, the Republican field has been somewhat hesitant to put forth a candidate while Lake’s intentions remained uncertain.
Senator Sinema has not formally announced her re-election bid, although polls consistently include her as a potential contender. Ruben Gallego officially launched his Senate campaign in January, while Republican Mark Lamb, the sheriff of Pinal County, has also thrown his hat into the ring. Blake Masters, another potential GOP candidate, received a call from Donald Trump expressing skepticism about his chances in a primary against Lake, as reported by The New York Times earlier this month.
The 2024 Arizona Senate race is shaping up to be a three-way contest, with Sinema running as an Independent, Gallego representing the Democrats, and Lake emerging as the potential Republican candidate. Previous polls, as compiled by FiveThirtyEight, have explored this scenario. In mid-April, a Public Policy Polling survey indicated that Sinema would garner 14 percent of the vote, Gallego 42 percent, and Lake 35 percent. A more recent poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from July 13-17 showed Sinema with 26 percent, Gallego with 34 percent, and Lake with 25 percent.
An alternative poll conducted during the same period, also by Noble Predictive Insights but focused solely on Gallego and Lake, gave the Democrat 45 percent of the vote and the Republican 35 percent.
Lake’s anticipated Senate campaign would formally bring an end to her claims that the 2022 gubernatorial election in Arizona was marred by irregularities and fraud. After losing to Hobbs by a margin of 17,000 votes, Lake refused to concede and pursued legal action, seeking a rerun of the race or a declaration of victory. However, her allegations of irregularities in Maricopa County, which accounts for 60 percent of the state’s voters, were ultimately dismissed by the courts.