The GOP Senate primary was won by Kari Lake
Kari Lake and the Dangerous Plan to Ban Abortion in Arizona: Telling the Public to Come Together to Help Protect the Future of Arizona
Lake has been a GOP since she was a failed candidate for governor of Arizona. Lake is attempting to have the outcome of the gubernatorial race overturned and be instated as governor, despite denying she lost the race.
Lake led with about 54% of the GOP primary vote, well more than the 40% held by Mark Lamb, and the distant third candidate, Elizabeth Reye. Lake’s margin of victory may change as more votes are counted.
At an election night rally in Phoenix after her race was called, Lake told a crowd of supporters that Arizonans had less than three-and-a-half months to save the country alongside Trump.
She’ll face Ruben Gallo, who ran without opposition for the Senate seat that was once held by Kyrsten Sinema.
Her shifting position on abortion has angered Democrats in a state that is wrestling with whether or not to include the right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution.
In the spring, Lake criticized the Arizona Supreme Court ruling that re-instated a near-total ban on abortion in the state, a law she had praised as a governor candidate.
“From now until November, I welcome all Arizonans — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike — to join our team and help defeat Kari Lake and her dangerous plan to ban abortion and hurt Arizonans,” Gallego said in a statement Tuesday night.
During her victory speech on Tuesday, Lake called upon Trump and traditional Republicans to come together to support her.
Donald J. Masters and Robeyn Hamadeh: From Close-Up to Deep-Inelastic Flavour Scattering in Arizona
High-profile endorsements and attention have been drawn to even the primary races in Arizona, which has become a key swing state in the presidential contest. The state helped President Biden clinch his win in 2020, and Democrats swept key statewide races, including the U.S. Senate seat that Masters lost, in 2022.
Polling had ranked Masters and Hamadeh neck and neck in a bitter race defined by each candidate’s fealty to Trump. Masters had barbs regarding Hamadeh’s personal and religious background, as well as other former allies.
But the Republican presidential candidate also gave Masters a last-minute endorsement on Truth Social Saturday night. Masters lost to Mark Kelly in the Senate race in Arizona.
But Hamadeh’s victory was far from assured after Trump issued a dual endorsement the weekend before Tuesday’s election. The former president first pledged his support to the man, who narrowly lost the race for attorney general in Arizona but has promoted a baseless claims of election fraud.
The heated Democratic primary for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District has not been called yet. Former Arizona state Sen. Raquel Terán is facing off against former Phoenix City councilmember Yassamin Ansari.
Elsewhere in the Valley of the Sun, incumbent Republican Rep. David Schweikert easily beat out Republicans rivals in the 1st Congressional District. The race for his opponent is still being worked out.
In southern Arizona, first-term congressman Juan Carimani won the Republican primary and is on his way to face off with a democrat in the race for the seat.