(PartiallyPolitics.com) – Republicans are struggling to find candidates to enter the Arizona Senate primary, which has caused concerns as currently failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake would be considered the party’s frontrunner in the race if she decided to join. The Arizona Senate race is one of the best pickup opportunities that the GOP has for the next election.
Last November Lake lost against Gov. Katie Hobb (D) in the gubernatorial election. She is now considering placing a bid for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I) seat. On the Democratic side, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D) has already entered the race, while Sinema has not yet announced whether she would be seeking reelection.
Republicans are worried about what it would mean for the party if Lake ended up being their candidate in this race. This is because, over the past few years, Lake has placed a lot of attention on allegations of election fraud, which could ultimately cost the Republicans that race.
Republican strategist Chuck Warren, who has experience working in Arizona, stated that most people are realistic about what it would mean if she ran for the seat, especially since Lake has the support of a significant portion of Republican primary voters. This means that she would be unlikely not to win the primary race if she decided to join the Arizona Senate race.
During the 2022 midterm elections, Lake’s gubernatorial race made national headlines after she pushed throughout her campaign former president Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election. While Lake managed to win the GOP primary race by approximately half the primary votes, she was unable to beat Hobbs in the general election. Since her loss Lake has filed lawsuits claiming that the election had been stolen, without having any evidence to support these claims.
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