Kari Lake’s Senate bid ends in defeat in toss-up Arizona race

Democratic Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego defeated Republican candidate Kari Lake to become Arizona’s next senator in a competitive race that took nearly a week to project a winner.

Gallego edged out Lake by more than 70,000 votes as of 6:33 a.m. with more than 95% of votes counted. Decision Desk HQ projected Gallego’s victory at 8:57 p.m. on Nov. 9 with 88% of votes counted. The AP called the race for Gallego at 11:49 p.m. Monday.

Gracias, Arizona! pic.twitter.com/fWQ3AetOsy

— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) November 12, 2024

Gallego’s victory is a consolation prize for Senate Democrats who lost four seats after suffering losses in West Virginia, Ohio, Montana, and Pennsylvania. Senate Republicans will control 53 seats for the first two years of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term while the Democrats hold 47.

Gallego has represented Arizona’s Third Congressional District since 2015 and is a former member of the left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus. Gallego’s 2022 reelection campaign notably called the candidate a “true progressive voice in Congress” in a fundraising email.

Gallego has pledged to expand abortion rights by codifying the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade and has co-sponsored legislation that would enact a ban on so-called “assault weapons.” ”

“I will always defend abortion rights,” Gallego told supporters in a victory speech livestreamed on X last night.

Gallego is replacing Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who did not run for reelection, after she faced mounting criticism from Democrats over her refusal to support left-wing policy priorities, such as eliminating the legislative filibuster.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs defeated Lake by less than a 20,000 vote margin during the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial contest, which Lake has not conceded.

The National Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, endorsed Lake in February before the state’s contested Republican senate primary in August during which Lake won 55% of the vote.

Lake consistently underperformed President Donald Trump throughout the campaign. Lake trailed the GOP presidential ticket by 3.5 percentage points, according to RealClear Polling (RCP) average of the presidential race in Arizona on election day.

Gallego will join Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate. Kelly defeated Republican candidate Blake Masters during Arizona’s competitive Senate contest in 2022.

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