Arizona Border Sheriff Wants Kari Lake to Lose Her Election

An Arizona border-county sheriff endorsed Democrat Ruben Gallego over Republican Kari Lake this week in the state's Senate race, which could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate after November.

Lake, who rose to prominence during her failed 2022 gubernatorial bid, has made immigration a crucial part of her Senate campaign, as Arizona is among the border states that have seen a rise in migrant arrivals in recent months. Immigration and border security, viewed as a sore spot for President Joe Biden and Democrats, is likely to be a key issue in elections in Arizona, a swing state almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

Gallego, who represents a congressional district in Phoenix, received a boost for his campaign with the endorsement of Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway.

Hathaway, in a statement first reported by The Washington Examiner, praised Gallego as a "longtime ally to Arizona's border law enforcement agencies and communities, working to deliver the funding we desperately need to have a secure but profitable border."

He criticized other politicians who "simply use the idea of the border for personal political gain" and said Gallego was different.

"Arizona's border communities and law enforcement need Ruben Gallego in the U.S. Senate. I am proud to endorse his campaign," Hathaway added.

Santa Cruz County, with a population of more than 49,000 people, is located along the U.S.-Mexico border, south of Tucson. It is the most Democratic county in the crucial swing state, giving Biden more than 67 percent of its vote in the 2020 election. The county contains Nogales, a border town that serves as a port of entry with Mexico.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, there have been more than 250,000 encounters in the agency's Tucson sector, in which Santa Cruz County is located, thus far in the 2024 fiscal year, which began in October.

Newsweek reached out to Lake's campaign via email and Hathaway's office via contact form for comment.

Arizona's Senate primaries are scheduled for July 30, and polls show Gallego and Lake are poised to win their party's nominations.

Gallego touted his support from Hathaway in a post to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

"Keeping Arizonans safe will always be my top priority, which is why I'm honored to have Sheriff @JamesDavidHath1's support. Sheriff Hathaway has ensured that Santa Cruz County is a safe place to live, work, and visit, and is a partner when it comes to delivering solutions for Arizona's border communities. I look forward to continuing our work together to create a safer, more prosperous Arizona," he wrote.

Lake, however, has criticized Gallego's record on immigration issues.

"@RubenGallego & @JoeBiden want to protect the feelings of the people who ILLEGALLY enter our country & do us harm. I want to protect our sons & daughters from the senseless violence that comes from people like Ruben & Biden CHOOSING not to enforce our immigration laws," she posted to X Wednesday, referring to some Democrats taking issue with Biden calling the migrant accused of killing Georgia college student Laken Riley an "illegal" during his State of the Union address.

Polls show a tight race between Gallego and Lake, who are running to replace Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat turned independent who said she would not run for reelection.

A Rasmussen Reports survey conducted among 1,001 likely voters from February 21 to 26 found a narrow advantage for Lake—with 45 percent of respondents saying they would vote for the Republican and 42 percent saying they were supporting Gallego. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

However, an Emerson College poll conducted among 1,000 registered voters from February 16 to 19 found that 46 percent of respondents planned to vote for Gallego, while 39 percent were supporting Lake. That poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.