Arizona is already one of the most politically competitive U.S.
states but its Senate race became all the more so after Senator
Kyrsten Sinema in December dropped her Democratic affiliation
and declared herself an independent.
Sinema has not yet said if she will seek reelection but
Democratic U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, a liberal and
former Marine with Iraq war combat experience, is making a bid
for the Democratic nomination for that seat.
Arizona is one of eight competitive seats Democrats will be
defending in 2024 as they try to protect their narrow 51-49
Senate majority. Lake plans to announce her candidacy at a 6:30
p.m. MT Tuesday (0030 GMT Wednesday) event in Scottsdale.
Lake, a former television news anchor at a Fox network station
in Phoenix, ran in 2022 for governor, narrowly losing to
Democrat Katie Hobbs. The Republican still has not conceded
defeat, following former President Trump's practice of claiming
falsely that his 2020 presidential election loss was the result
of widespread fraud.
Lake is closely aligned with Trump, who so far leads the race
for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. In the past she
has glowingly referred to him as "Superman."
Arizona shares around 370 miles (600 km) of its border with
Mexico and immigration is sure to be one of the main topics in
the Senate race. Some establishment Republicans have fretted
that if she wins the nomination, her fiery, hard-right,
election-denier stances might not sit well with some of the
state's voters.
"There is an invasion at the Arizona border RIGHT NOW. Kyrsten
Sinema and Ruben Gallego repeatedly voted AGAINST funding the
border wall. They have rubber-stamped this open borders agenda.
Arizonans are sick of it," Lake said on X, formerly known as
Twitter, on Monday.
Lake joins a handful of Republican aspirants, including Mark
Lamb, a sheriff in Pinal County, which is located between
Phoenix and Tucson, and businessman Brian Wright.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone and Grant
McCool)
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