Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego win Arizona Senate primary — other state races remain close

PHOENIX — Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake won her primary election Tuesday and will square off against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) in the November general election. 

Lake, 54, defeated her top opponent, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, by a 53.3%-40.7% margin. The Associated Press called the race in Lake’s favor just 46 minutes after polls closed. 

Lake thanked God, her campaign team, and former President Donald Trump in her victory speech at a Hilton Hotel in north Phoenix.

“It’s not about one man. He can’t do this alone. He needs backup in Washington DC,” she said, to which someone in the audience shouted, “He needs Kari Lake!”

“President Trump, I’ve got your six!” she exclaimed.

However, Lake thanked Lamb, saying he “ran a great campaign.”

“I really hate to call him my opponent. He’s my friend,” Lake said of Lamb. Polling suggested that Lake had a significant lead over the sheriff.

Trump endorsed Lake, a former Phoenix TV news anchor, last October. 

In 2022, Lake lost her race for the Arizona governorship to Democrat Katie Hobbs by about 17,000 votes. 

Lake refused to concede the election to Hobbs and filed multiple lawsuits challenging the results that failed in court. 

Earlier this year, Lake pleaded no contest in a defamation lawsuit brought against her by a state election worker whom she accused of rigging the 2022 gubernatorial election.

On the Democratic slate, Gallego, 44, cruised to victory after running unopposed. 

Gallego took aim at his Republican opponent after it became clear she would be the one he’ll face off against.

“In the 554 days since we launched this campaign, Arizonans in every corner of the state have made clear that they want a U.S. Senator who can bring people together to defend abortion rights, cut costs for families, protect our water future, and take care of our veterans — and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” Gallego stated.

“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,” the Democrat added.

The four-term congressman has been endorsed by Hobbs, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Gallego and Lake will be competing for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who announced in March that she would not seek re-election. 

Gallego announced his bid for Sinema’s Senate seat in early 2023. He had been eyeing a primary challenge against her before she swapped her party affiliation in late 2022. 

Entering July, Gallego held a substantial financial advantage over Lake, reporting having $9.2 million in cash on hand compared to Lake’s $2.8 million. 

The Democratic congressman also leads his GOP opponent in the polls, with a RealClearPolitics average of surveys showing Gallego with a 3.4 percentage point edge over Lake.  

Along with closely watched GOP challenges to Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), the Arizona election will determine whether Republicans retake control of the Senate in 2025.

Democrats currently hold a slim 1-vote majority in the upper chamber.

In Arizona’s Eighth Congressional District Republican primary, former Attorney General nominee Abe Hamadeh is leading narrowly against former Senatorial nominee Blake Masters and state House Speaker Ben Toma.

Trump endorsed both Hamadeh and Masters in a last-minute race shakeup over the weekend, after he only originally backed Hamadeh.

Masters is also backed by Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance. Many harkened the dual endorsement back to when Trump simply endorsed “Eric” in the crowded Republican Missouri Senate primary with both Eric Greitens and Eric Schmitt, which Schmitt eventually won.

The district is not considered competitive, but the primary blew wide open once Congresswoman Debbie Lesko announced she would not seek re-election and instead pursue a seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Although Hamadeh and Masters were once allies on the 2022 campaign trail, a public split largely occurred over the fact that Hamadeh contested in a 280-vote loss, whereas Masters conceded his race to Sen. Mark Kelly, as he lost by over 125,000 votes.

On the Democratic side, the primary in Arizona’s First Congressional District remains close, with former state Rep. Amish Shah holding a slight lead over Andrei Cherny and Marlene Galan-Woods. Whoever wins the primary will face off against Rep. David Schweikert in the hotly competitive district this November.

Arizona is considered a battleground state up and down the ballot and could decide the fate of the presidential race, House and Senate control. The state legislature is also considered highly contested, as Republicans hold a narrow majority that Democrats are hoping to end.

Polls closed at 7 p.m. local time, and the first results dropped starting at 8 p.m. local time, most of those votes are mail-ins and those who voted early, meaning that in-person Election Day votes will come in the later drops of results.