Republican Kari Lake launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate in Arizona on Tuesday, after previously saying she believes she is “the only one who can win” and teasing her interest in challenging incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent candidate who was initially elected in the Democratic primary. Party ticket.
The former TV news anchor, one of former President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters, said of her political aspirations: “We have an opportunity to fill a very important position so that when President Trump comes back to office, he can have people in DC ready to support him with this incredible plan.”
Kari Lake Appears at Mar-a-Lago More Than Melania Trump and ‘Practically Lives’ in the Suite (Exclusive Source)
Former President Donald Trump hugs then-Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake on October 9, 2022.
Mario Tama/Getty
Lake hinted in July that she would announce a Senate campaign “maybe sometime in the fall,” turning her sights on Congress after her failed 2022 bid for Arizona governor, in which she lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
Arizona’s election results were certified in December 2022, and Lake lost to Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes. Hobbs took office as governor in January 2023, but Lake then claimed election fraud and refused to concede her loss. Instead, she filed a lawsuit to challenge the election results, which was eventually dismissed. The presiding judge explained that Lake’s “evidence and arguments do not resolve the issue”.
Kari Lake Called John McCain a ‘Hero’ When He Died – Now She’s Calling Him a ‘Loser’
Lake’s lawsuit sought to ban the use of electronic voting machines in Arizona and require all ballots to be counted by hand. Her lawyers were fined more than $120,000 after a federal court ruled a lawsuit challenging the Maricopa County results was “frivolous.”
“Failure to impose significant sanctions here could very well encourage others to follow suit by lending their credibility to documents filed in court without facing any real consequences if their certifications prove hollow or incomplete,” Judge John Tuchi said in his ruling. according to Hill.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(434x329:436x331)/Ruben-Gallego-Kyrtsen-Sinema-012323-7e8598c227e34e80bf4997dcbf9aa285.jpg)
Congressman Ruben Gallego is hoping to earn the Democratic endorsement after incumbent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema switched her party affiliation to independent. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty; Anna Moneymaker/Getty
Arizona is poised to become one of the key battleground states in the battle for control of the Senate. Incumbent Sinema, who switched party affiliation from Democratic to independent, already has other opponents in the race, the most notable being Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who announced his decision to run in January after Sinema left the party.
“Growing up poor, all I had was the American dream. It kept me going: as a child sleeping on the floor, a college student scrubbing toilets, a Marine losing brothers in Iraq,” he said in a statement posted on social media. “Today, too many Arizonans are seeing their sleep slip away. I’m running for the US Senate to give it back to you!”
Progressive Independent Bernie Sanders attributes Kyrsten Sinema’s party switch to ‘political aspirations’
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, a Republican, has also announced his intention to run for the Arizona Senate seat, and the deadline for additional candidates to file is not until April.
Sinema has not yet announced whether she will run for re-election, although she submitted the necessary papers in December.
Whichever candidate wins the 2024 election will represent Arizona alongside Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, the former astronaut and husband of Gabby Giffords who won the 2020 special election following the death of longtime Sen. John McCain.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best PEOPLE has to offer.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education