Kari Lake Responds to Rumor She Is Considering Running for U.S. Senate

Kari Lake is appealing the dismissal of her lawsuit contesting the results of a botched election for Arizona governor, which placed her opponent, Democrat Katie Hobbs, in office, but rumors are swirling in the mainstream media that she is moving on and considering running for U.S. Senate.

The rumors began when CNN reporter Kate Sullivan tweeted on Monday, “I’m told Kari Lake is considering running for the US Senate seat held by Kyrsten Sinema in 2024.” Newsweek published an article titled, “Kari Lake Might Have Finally Given up Her Hopes of Becoming Governor.”

I'm told Kari Lake is considering running for the US Senate seat held by Kyrsten Sinema in 2024.

— Kate Sullivan (@KateSullivanDC) January 16, 2023

The Arizona Sun Times spoke with Lake’s campaign about it, which provided this response, “Kari is hyper-focused on winning her court case as she is the duly-elected Governor and her Election Case proves that. Hundreds of thousands of invalid ballots were counted in Maricopa County alone, more than 60 percent of Election Day voting centers were sabotaged causing lines of 4 hours or more at some locations, the wrong ballot image was printed on Election Day ballots causing tabulators to jam and spit out ballots, 25K ballots were mysteriously added to the official vote count two days after the elections and more than 100K ballots with rejected signatures were counted anyway.”

The team went on, hinting that Lake might consider the Senate seat if she does not become governor, “That is just a BIT of what went wrong in Arizona. Kari Lake is fighting to protect the sacred vote of the People of Arizona. It is true that dozens of people have reached out to Kari suggesting she run for U.S. Senate. There have been several polls showing she is the strongest candidate and could win. The corruption in DC is as bad as it is in Arizona and we need to root out that corruption, but Kari’s focus is on her election case and saving the good people of Arizona from a fraud named Katie Hobbs who is dead set on destroying State 48.”

Sinema recently left the Democratic Party to become an independent, leaving many on both the right and the left to believe she’s vulnerable to a challenge. Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) is openly talking about running against her. A December poll from the Democrat-affiliated Public Policy Polling revealed that if the Senate race were between Lake, Sinema, and Gallego, Lake would win. Lake polled 41 percent to Gallego’s 40 percent, with Sinema far behind at 13 percent.

The Kari Lake War Room Twitter account ridiculed the rumor. “You want a real story,

@KateSullivanDC?” the account tweeted. “Talk to @katiehobbs’s camp about HER desire to run for Senate in 2024.” Another tweet continued, “Lotta good drama between Hobbs and Sinema. Katie has always viewed this selection as a stepping stone for Senate.”

Gallego tweeted about the rumor, “Arizona has a very strict resign to run law. It’s not possible for her to be Arizona’s shadow governor and a Senate candidate at the same time. 😁”

Arizona has a very strict resign to run law. It’s not possible for her to be Arizona’s shadow governor and a Senate candidate at the same time. 😁 https://t.co/LGifaQAJKP

— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) January 16, 2023

Arizona law prohibits appointed or elected officials from running for election until their last year in office. In 1916, a similar dispute arose over who was elected governor of Arizona. The official winner, incumbent Democratic Gov. George Wiley Paul Hunt, assumed office, while Republican challenger Thomas E. Campbell set up his own rival office. Voter fraud was alleged in the race, and months later, the Arizona Supreme Court declared Campbell, the winner and placed him in office. Unlike Campbell, however, Lake has not set up any competing office. She merely refers to herself as “the real governor, the duly-elected governor.”

Lake’s election challenge is currently at the Arizona Court of Appeals, with an expedited date for oral arguments set for February 1.

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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kari Lake” by Kari Lake.