OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Govenor? Vice President? Senator? Republican Kari Lake has a lot of options on the table. Lake is still challenging her loss in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, but she may be gearing up to run for the 2024 U.S. Senate election in Arizona.
While speaking at The Family Leadership Summit, a Christian conference held in Iowa, Lake said she believes she is the only candidate who could win next year’s Arizona Senate race as she contemplates whether she will toss her hat in the ring.
Lake said she will decide whether she will run for Arizona Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat in the next few months, potentially making a decision in the fall, The Hill reported.
“I’ve looked at the polling, to be honest, and I believe I’m the only one who can win that race,” Lake said. “We have an opportunity to pick up a very important seat so that when President Trump gets back into office, he can have people in D.C. ready to back him up with this incredible agenda.”
Should Lake decide on a Senate run, however, she already appears to have an advantage. Last month, one survey had Lake ahead of all other possible candidates in a hypothetical 2024 GOP Senate primary by 28 points, as reported by Just the News.
A recent poll conducted by JL Partners from April 10-12 showed that despite not announcing her plans to run for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-Ariz.) seat, 38% of registered Arizona Republicans and undeclared voters would vote for Kari Lake.
Karrin Taylor Robson, who lost the GOP gubernatorial primary to Lake last year, came in second place with 10% support.
“Following Robson, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb has 8%, 2022 Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters has 7%, and 2022 Arizona Attorney General candidate Abraham Hamadeh has 4%,” the outlet reported. “No Arizona Republicans have entered the 2024 Senate primary, but Lake, Masters, and Hamadeh were all endorsed by former President Donald Trump last year in their respective primaries.”
The same survey found that in a hypothetical contest for the GOP presidential nomination next year, Trump is preferred over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) by 23 points, with 47% supporting Trump and 24% supporting DeSantis, while 11% of voters were undecided.
Among the remaining declared and potential candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramayana all received single-digit support.
Additionally, 2% of voters endorsed another option. Pompeo and Youngkin have since confirmed that they will not be seeking the GOP nomination.
Last month, Lake teased what’s in store for her in the near future in a series of social media posts and interviews as speculation increases that she is eying a U.S. Senate run next year.
In a tweet in June, Lake wrote, “Are you ready for the next chapter?” — in a post that included a photo of her silhouetted on a stage with a state flag as her backdrop.
“While Lake’s name has been floated as a vice presidential contender, there are also rumors she could be eyeing a Senate run and is leaning in on raising her national profile,” the Washington Examiner reported on Wednesday. “Much of her popularity comes from her cozy relationship with [former President Donald] Trump, whom she has wholeheartedly supported and unabashedly defended.”
Earlier this month, a judge in Maricopa County, Arizona, ruled he won’t block Lake’s attempts to access ballot affidavit envelopes from last year’s election as she continues to battle what she views as fraudulent activities that she says led to her defeat.
Maricopa County had argued that, except for a few specific cases where county attorneys believed Lake fell short, the signatures present on the ballot affidavit are considered confidential as they are an integral part of the voter registration record, protected by state law.
But Judge John Hannah dismissed the claim on the basis that county recorders frequently incorporate ballot affidavit envelopes into voter registration records, not necessarily due to legal obligations or explicit instructions.
