As if there wasn’t enough tumult in the Republican Party this week, Kari Lake has decided that she wants to make a run at Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat here in Arizona.
Politico:
Kari Lake has formally filed to run for U.S. Senate in Arizona.
The conservative firebrand and ardent Donald Trump supporter had teased a run for weeks with expectations of a campaign launch for early October. National Republicans had initially been skittish on her candidacy after she lost the governor’s race in 2022 and launched a multi-month effort to challenge the validity of that vote.
But she has remained active in GOP politics since then, meeting with D.C. officials and staying particularly close to Trump. She spent Tuesday on Capitol Hill meeting with senators ahead of her expected launch next week.
There was probably no bigger supporter of Kari Lake in conservative media than I was last year. I wrote several glowing pieces about her, but she’s been wearing on me a lot this year. She lost me completely last week after a podcast interview when she just flat-out lied about Ron DeSantis’s COVID response. Rewriting the DeSantis COVID response story is required if one wants a shot at kissing Trump’s feet at the next Truth Social virtual barbecue, but it’s usually the lower-echelon minions who are busy with that. It was very disappointing to see the woman who wants to be my next United States senator lying through her teeth like that.
Despite all of that, Lake will almost certainly prevail in the GOP primary. As I wrote in July, the Arizona Republican Party is a hot mess that has no bench whatsoever. There’s a rumor that Blake Masters — who lost to Mark “I’M AN ASTRONAUT!” Kelly last year — wants a shot at this seat too. Lake has much better name recognition and Trump cred, however. The nomination is hers to lose unless Barry Goldwater is resurrected.
Lake will need to win back the Republicans in Arizona who she essentially gave the finger to just days before the election last year. At a rally, she asked the McCain Republicans in attendance to identify themselves, then told them to “get the hell out.” It was a monumentally stupid move. Like it or not, there are still a LOT of McCain supporters in Arizona, especially among older Republicans.
Oh, there are a lot of older Republicans here too.
If Sinema does decide to run for reelection, Arizona is going to have an absolute zoo of a three-way race for Senate next year. I won’t speculate just now on how that might play out because it’s not a reality yet and there will be a lot of moving parts if it becomes one.
via pjmedia
