Republican Kari Lake and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego are engaged in a tight Arizona Senate race based on new polls released Tuesday ahead of the former GOP gubernatorial candidate officially launching her campaign.
In three-way matchups conducted in two surveys, Ms. Lake and Mr. Gallego were engaged in statistical ties in a battle for the seat of independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
A poll from Republican firm National Research Inc. had Ms. Lake up four percentage points at 37%, Mr. Gallego 33% and Ms. Sinema 19%. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
The script was flipped in a Public Policy Polling survey commissioned by the Gallego campaign: Mr. Gallego was up five percentage points at 41%, Ms. Lake 36% and Ms. Sinema 15%. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
Ms. Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last year but caucuses with Democrats, has not said whether she’ll seek reelection. But she’s raising money like she is, fueling expectations she will seek a second term.
Ms. Sinema ended third-quarter fundraising with $10.8 million cash on hand and said last week that “we have the resources to continue our work helping Arizonians build better lives for themselves and their families.”
Ms. Lake, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, filed paperwork last week to run and will officially launch her campaign Tuesday evening at an event in Scottsdale. She met with several top Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill last week amid concerns that her history of stolen election claims and unsuccessful bid for governor will cost the GOP the battleground seat that could determine control of the chamber.
The head of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, Sen. Gary Peters, called Ms. Lake’s candidacy “Senate Republicans’ worst nightmare” in a statement ahead of her campaign kickoff.
“She has dangerous views and harmful policies: an abortion ban without exceptions, ending Medicare and Social Security, and fringe conspiracies that are far out of step with normal Arizonans,” the Michigan Democrat said. “Even Republicans didn’t want Lake to run because voters rejected her before, and they’ll do so again in 2024.”
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb also is running as a Republican, and former Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters might join the race. Both men polled poorer than Ms. Lake in the Gallego-commissioned survey, with Mr. Lamb trailing by nine points and Mr. Masters by 10 in three-way matchups.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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