OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake made some noise on Wednesday when she sent out a tweet about former President Donald Trump.
In light of Trump’s announcement last year that he would be running for president again in 2024, many have speculated about who would be his running mate. Back in November, Lake was spotted with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, which led to speculation about her possibly being chosen as Trump’s potential VP.
While nothing is official at this time, Lake fueled some of those rumors this week when she tweeted: “Trump 2024.”
Trump 2024.
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) February 1, 2023
Last week, Lake’s campaign has responded to rumors that she is considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Krysten Sinema, who left her party months ago and is now a self-declared Independent, though she still caucuses with Democrats.
“I’m told Kari Lake is considering running for the US Senate seat held by Kyrsten Sinema in 2024,” CNN political reporter Kate Sullivan posted on Twitter.
A recent poll showed that the firebrand Republican would defeat sitting Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Democrat challenger Ruben Gallego.
“The survey, released January 11 by the website Blueprint Polling, imagined a scenario in which Sinema, a former Democrat turned independent who’s held her Senate seat since 2019, runs for reelection against Lake and Gallego, a Democrat who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District. Lake, who rumors say is considering running for the seat but has not confirmed this, polled at 36 percent, according to Blueprint, well ahead of the two rivals. Gallego trailed closely with 32 percent, while Sinema ran a distant third with 14 percent,” Deseret News reported.
The poll said that in a three-way contest, one of six voters surveyed was undecided, which could assist Sen. Sinema in keeping her position.
Since leaving the Democrat Party last month, Sen. Sinema has gained support from Republican and Democrat voters and, the poll said that her best chance to stay in the Senate “may be for the Republican party to nominate a candidate so flawed that moderate and conservative voters would abandon that person for the Independent Sinema.”
Sinema officially left the Democratic Party in December and changed her affiliation to the Independent. Her move weakens Democrats’ already tenuous hold on the upper chamber. Prior to her announcement, Democrats had a 51-50 majority in the U.S. Senate.
In a guest column for the Arizona Republic, Sinema slammed “partisanship” and the stranglehold it has on both major parties. Sinema, who is up for re-election in 2024, said she will continue to caucus with Democrats.
“Everyday Americans are increasingly left behind by national parties’ rigid partisanship, which has hardened in recent years,” Sinema wrote. “Pressures in both parties pull leaders to the edges, allowing the loudest, most extreme voices to determine their respective parties’ priorities and expecting the rest of us to fall in line. In catering to the fringes, neither party has demonstrated much tolerance for diversity of thought,” she wrote. “Bipartisan compromise is seen as a rarely acceptable last resort, rather than the best way to achieve lasting progress. Payback against the opposition party has replaced thoughtful legislating.”
“There’s a disconnect between what everyday Americans want and deserve from our politics, and what political parties are offering. I am privileged to represent Arizonans of all backgrounds and beliefs in the U.S. Senate and am honored to travel to every corner of our state, listening to your concerns and ideas. While Arizonans don’t all agree on the issues, we are united in our values of hard work, common sense, and independence,” Sinema said.
Becoming an Independent won’t change my work in the Senate; my service to Arizona remains the same. Read my full Op-ed in the Arizona Republic 3/3 ⬇️https://t.co/P2JQXFT5IJ
— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) December 9, 2022
“I promised I would never bend to party pressure, and I would stay focused on solving problems and getting things done for everyday Arizonans. Americans are more united than the national parties would have us believe. We’ve shown that a diverse democracy can still function effectively. Arizonans – including many registered as Democrats or Republicans – are eager for leaders who focus on common-sense solutions rather than party doctrine. But if the loudest, most extreme voices continue to drive each party toward the fringes – and if party leaders stay more focused on energizing their bases than delivering for all Americans – these kinds of lasting legislative successes will become rarer,” she wrote.
“When politicians are more focused on denying the opposition party a victory than they are on improving Americans’ lives, the people who lose are everyday Americans. That’s why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington. I registered as an Arizona independent,” she declared.
