Winner declared between Kari Lake and fringe sheriff Mark Lamb in Arizona primary
A winner was declared Tuesday night in the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Arizona between MAGA Donald Trump-ally Kari Lake and her far-right opponent Mark Lamb.
Lake was declared the winner Tuesday night, according to The Associated Press, and will go on to face Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego for the seat vacated by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Trump hedged in his endorsement of Republican congressional candidates Abraham Hamadeh and Blake Masters, who are running for a safe Democratic seat.
Trump issued a very early endorsement of Lake for the Senate race against Pinal County Sheriff Lamb. He campaigned by running to her right.
Read also: Kari Lake: America will 'turn into a Venezuela' unless a judge installs me as governor
On the day before the election, Trump echoed his endorsement, saying, “She’s fearless when it comes to being a champion for the common-sense, America-first policies. Kari will vote to seal the border. We’re going to seal that border. It will stop them immediately, and that will stop, in turn, the invasion, the largest invasion in the history of probably any country. There’s never been anything like it.”
In the latest numbers from Noble Predictive Insight (NPI), taken July 22-23, Lake had a net favorability of +12 against Lamb, who was at 38 percent.
Lake is an avid 2020 election denier who failed in her 2022 gubernatorial pursuits and protested that result as well. Lamb spent most of the race claiming that Lake couldn't win a general election and, thus, voters should cast a ballot for him.
Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego will appear on the Democratic side of the general election to replace outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
An Emerson College poll taken around the same time as the GOP primary poll shows that Gallego is ahead of Lake by four points (46 percent to 42 percent).
"Lake looks promising in overcoming the first challenge in the Senate race—winning the primary—but she'll have to shape her general election strategy to capture the key voter blocs she's currently struggling with to compete with the Democratic candidate," NPI founder and CEO Mike Noble, said in a written statement.