Politics
NEW: Winner Announced In Arizona’s Senate Race
Republicans clinched a clean sweep of the White House, U.S. House, and U.S. Senate by early Tuesday morning, but all didn’t end well in Arizona.
Firebrand conservative and MAGA diehard Kari Lake narrowly lost her election to Senator-elect Ruben Gallego in a race that observers believed had the potential to decide control of the Senate. Lake’s toss-up campaign came up short, the Daily Caller reported, after Gallego edged her out by about 70,000 votes with more than 95% of votes counted. The race was called late Monday night by the AP, backing up a previous call made by Decision Desk HQ on November 9th.
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“Today we all say ‘juntos’ in victory, celebrating the historic nature of electing one of our own veterans to the Senate,” Gallego said in a Monday night victory speech. “Electing Arizona’s first Latino U.S. senator marks a profound [moment] for us all,” he continued in a mix of English and Spanish. “It reflects the rich diversity and inclusive spirit of our state.”
Gallego added during his speech, “I will always defend abortion rights,” a nod to the previous pro-choice commitments he made along the campaign trail. The Democratic congressman has promised to vote in favor of codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law, which would mandate that states provide an equal measure of abortion protections. Gallego has also promised to vote for a federal assault weapons ban, another top priority that is all but dead in a Republican-controlled Senate.
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— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) November 12, 2024
Lake, who vigorously contested her 2022 loss in the state’s race for governor, has not yet made a statement about the results. She previously made a push on social media asking volunteers to help cure ballots, a process that the campaign said helped her surge following the November 5th election. Lake has also pointed to past statements by a state GOP official who promised to “make life hell” for her after she rebuffed a request by the former state party chairman to not run.
Stephen Richer, a Republican election official with Maricopa County, made the statement when asked by a friend what options he might pursue after elected office. “Get out of politics permanently; get out of politics temporarily; run for reelection as a Republican; run for reelection as an independent; run for mayor if no Kate; and then finally run for U.S. Sen, just to fly the flag for real conservatism and make life hell for Kari,” Richer said according to a June 21st deposition obtained by the Daily Mail. Asked by a lawyer during the proceeding why he would want to “make life hell” for Lake, Richer replied, “I don’t remember. I don’t think she’s a real conservative.”
Despite President-elect Donald Trump winning Maricopa County, Gallego defeated Lake there by a 51-46 margin. The vast number of ticket splitters ultimately spelled doom for Lake, who wasn’t able to move out from underneath the shadow of past hard-right statements she made in 2022. Most Republican Senate candidates across the country underperformed Trump, but Lake happened to be one of the unfortunate few who didn’t beat their Democratic opponents.
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