Kari Lake Announces Arizona Senate Bid, Injecting MAGA into Heated Races

Former gubernatorial candidate and TV anchor Kari Lake announced her candidacy Tuesday evening for the U.S. Senate, immediately becoming a front-runner for the Republican nomination in what could shape up into a historic three-way race.

Should she win the nomination, Lake will likely face off against Congressman Ruben Gallego, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. These two could then find themselves competing against independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who has not said whether she will run but boasts a deep campaign war chest.

Arizona stands as a key swing state, with an electorate of roughly 35 percent independent, 35 percent Republican and 30 percent Democratic. Following Sinema's flipping of a Republican seat in 2018 and the state's rejection of former President Donald Trump in 2020, then of Lake in 2022, centrism has become a focal point of Arizona elections.

"I'm really tired of watching our politicians retreat from every single important battle. They're cowards. That's how we got into the mess we're in right now because they have surrendered far too many hills," Lake said at her announcement rally. "I am not going to retreat. I'm going to stand on top of this hill with every single one of you, and I know you're by my side as I formally announce my candidacy for the United States Senate."

With Lake, a MAGA firebrand and Trump devotee, entering the race, the former president's influence over the Republican Party will likely loom large over Arizona and its GOP lawmakers who represent districts carried by President Joe Biden in 2020.

The Cook Political Report ranks two Arizona Republicans, both of whom won districts carried by Biden, among the 16 most vulnerable GOP lawmakers in the country.

Congressman David Schweikert, who represents Arizona's 1st Congressional District northeast of Phoenix, holds a seat that Cook rates as Republican +2 (the most conservative, Alabama's 4th District, scores Republican +33). Congressman Juan Ciscomani represents the other targeted district, Arizona's 6th, east of Tucson, which scores as Republican +3.

"Make no mistake: the so-called moderates agree with Kari Lake's extreme positions on the 2020 election conspiracy theory and banning abortion nationwide," Justin Chermol, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Newsweek. "With Lake now in the race putting these dangerous positions at the forefront, Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert will not be able to hide their own extreme records from Arizonans."

Lake's 2022 opponent, Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, outperformed the former news anchor in populous areas of Ciscomani and Schweikert's districts. Upon losing the election, Lake echoed the former president's baseless claims of a stolen election and unsuccessfully sued to have the results overturned.

While her campaign website states that she does not support a federal abortion ban, Lake previously expressed support for banning abortion after the presence of a fetal heartbeat. Ciscomani's website outlines his opposition to abortion except in cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in peril. Schweikert's website does not address the issue, but he has spoken favorably of overturning Roe v. Wade and offered other anti-abortion sentiments.

Schweikert voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election while The Washington Post identified Ciscomani in 2022 as the only GOP candidate in Arizona who was not an election denier. Newsweek contacted both campaigns for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Samara Klar, professor at the University of Arizona School of Government and Public Policy, said that Lake's presence in the race could harm candidates like these two men who will likely need the support of moderates to win their races. Klar said Lake could draw more national attention to Arizona and create additional pressure on Republicans to differentiate themselves from Trump and the MAGA brand.

"Having Kari Lake's name on the ballot is not something that they would have wanted, I'm sure," Klar told Newsweek. "Arizona voters tend to be pretty moderate, both Democrats and Republicans, and they both see national politicians as too ideologically extreme. So, in order to win in Arizona, the best strategy, and this isn't new, this has been going on for a long time in Arizona, is to sort of portray yourself as a nonpartisan post-partisan kind of a candidate."