Kari Lake launches U.S. Senate campaign in Arizona
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Kari Lake speaks in West Palm Beach in June. Photo: Thomas Simonetti for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Trump-aligned former local news anchor Kari Lake announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate in Arizona on Tuesday night.
Why it matters: Lake, who has yet to accept her defeat in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race, is expected to be the Republican front runner in a race that could determine Senate control.
What they're saying: "We've got one year to save this country, and we've got to go in a different direction, people. We've got to go away from Joe Biden," Lake said Tuesday night.
- She spent most of her speech attacking President Biden over inflation and the southern border, criticizing the media and insisting the country would be better if former President Trump were still in the Oval Office.
Meanwhile, Trump gave Lake his "complete and total endorsement" in a video address played at the event.
- "In the Senate, we have to have a big strong majority to help me push our America First agenda through and to push it through really fast," Trump said.
- "And that starts right here tonight by helping Kari Lake win in Arizona. She will win."
The big picture: The Senate race in Arizona could shape up to a competitive three-way contest between the Republican nominee, presumptive Democratic nominee Rep. Ruben Gallego and incumbent independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
- Sinema has not announced whether she will run.
The intrigue: Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is the only other Republican to enter the race so far, but failed 2022 Senate candidate Blake Masters is mulling a run, Axios reported in August.
- Masters was the Trump-backed candidate in the 2022 race, but in the last month of the campaign, the former president encouraged him to be more like Lake and hit harder on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
- Meanwhile, Lake has stayed extremely close with Trump, and was rumored to be a top choice for his running mate in the 2024 presidential race.
Of note: Masters did not respond to Axios when asked whether he was still considering jumping into the Senate race.
The other side: Lamb and Gallego were quick to denounce Lake's candidacy.
- "Kari Lake is the Stacey Abrams of Arizona. She has never won a general election. Sheriff Mark Lamb has never lost one," Lamb advisor Rick Gorka said in a statement after Lake filed her campaign paperwork last week.
- "Arizonans know exactly who Kari Lake is — and that's why they rejected her the first time around," Gallego said in a statement Tuesday.
Go deeper: Arizona GOP election official sues Kari Lake for defamation
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from former President Trump.
