Kari Lake wins Arizona Senate Republican primary

PHOENIX (CN) — Kari Lake will soon face off with current Democratic U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego for Arizona’s open Senate seat.

The former Fox 10 news anchor turned firebrand politician handedly defeated her opponent, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, in the state's Republican Primary by 73,392 votes as of 11 p.m. Tuesday. While the vote tallies aren’t final, the Associated Press called the race in Lake's favor around 8:45 p.m. She received more than 287,000 votes.

Lake polled ahead of Lamb by a comfortable margin for the majority of their campaigns, so much so that she skipped a debate in June, saying she was confident she’d beat Lamb anyway.

“Thank you for putting your faith in me, Arizona,” Lake wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I won't let you down. Together, we're going to save this state. Together, we're going to #MakeArizonaGrandAgain.”

Lake announced her bid for the seat left open by Independent Kyrsten Sinema in October — with an enthusiastic endorsement from former President and leading Republican candidate Donald Trump — while still embroiled in multiple election challenges over Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial race. Lake, who lost to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, has been the flagship for election denialism in Arizona ever since. 

Outside a polling place in Peoria Tuesday morning, voters lamented the choices they were presented with.

“I’m not a huge fan of anybody,” Suzzane Leatherwood said. “Give me somebody else. Unfortunately, we’re coming down to who to vote against instead of who to vote for.”

Most voters said their biggest concern this election cycle is border security. While both Lake and Lamb propose hard stances on immigration, no strong sentiments for either candidate were provided. 

“I’m a Republican, but I like compromise,” said Bob Stanley. “I don’t think Kari Lake compromises very much.  I think she’s pretty much one-sided.”

Lake has raised more than $10 million for her campaign, and has spent $8.3 million, dwarfing Lamb’s $2 million raised and $1.8 million spent. Lake’s top donor is the Senate Conservatives Fund, which has provided her campaign with $65,510 so far. 

Lake will battle current Democratic Representative Gallego in what could be a deciding vote for the balance of power in the Senate. Sinema, the incumbent who announced in March that she won’t seek reelection, was elected as a Democrat in 2018, but joined the likes of Bernie Sanders and Angus King as an Independent in 2022. She, like the two others, still votes alongside Democrats in a majority of cases. 

While Republicans hold one more seat than their opponents, those three Independents give the Democrats a one-vote majority. With 33 senate seats up for reelection this year, the fate of government control hangs in the balance. 

Lamb hasn’t provided a comment as of 9 p.m.

In other Arizona primary races, Abe Hamadeh leads his closest opponent Blake Masters by 4,682 votes in the battle for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. He has 21,853 votes as of 11 p.m.

Masters and Hamadeh — who, like Lake, have both touted unsupported claims of election fraud — supported one another’s runs for U.S. Senate and Arizona Attorney General, respectively, in 2022. But a schism formed between the two when Masters leaked text messages from Hamadeh calling election deniers “crazies,” saying Hamadeh doesn’t care about his voter base. 

Both candidates are staunchly pro-Second Amendment, anti-abortion and hard on immigration and border security. Trump has endorsed both candidates. 

Masters has raised $4 million for his campaign and has spent just over $3 million, compared to Hamadeh’s $1.3 million raised and $1.1 million spent, including $21,480 for facility rental and catering services at Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort.

House Speaker Ben Toma — the architect of both a controversial border bill in the state Legislature and the state’s school choice voucher program, which has been a center of controversy since the state opened it to all students in 2022 — trails behind the two. 

Former U.S. Representative Trent Franks follows closely in fourth place. 

Charlene Sharp, a Republican from Peoria, said Franks is her preferred candidate. 

“He did a great job when he was here the last time,” she said. “I think he’ll do us a great job. And he stands for a lot of the things I think are important.”

Of those interviewed, none said they support Masters or Hamadeh. 

The winner will take on Democratic candidate Gregory Whitten, who won the Democratic primary but is polling at a significant disadvantage in the solidly Republican district. 

In Congressional District 1, former Republican Amish Shah leads the Democratic pack with 14,417 votes. And voters don’t seem to mind his past. 

“If anything, that just makes him more balanced,” John Estrada said outside a polling place in North Phoenix. 

G.E. Howard, another Democrat from North Phoenix, said Shah’s switch to the Democratic Party in 2018 shows growth of character.

“Anyone who leaves the orange party, to me, should be given an opportunity,” Howard said. “Shah seems to believe that that’s not the party he joined anymore. That the Republican party has been changed.”

Andrei Cherny trails Shah by 1,573 votes.

Cherny, whose former company is under federal investigation for misrepresenting its climate-conscious structure, has made climate response and energy his main focus in this election, saying he wants to make Arizona the “solar state.”

Shah has raised $1.5 million and has spent $1.25 million, receiving $13,232 from Arizona State University, and $13,200 from both GPW & Associates and Rafi Law Group. 

Cherny raised $2.5 million and spent $1.8 million. 

The winner will face the Republican incumbent Representative David Schweikert, who was declared the Republican winner soon after 8 p.m.

Of four million registered voters in Arizona, only 23% turned out to the polls as of 11 p.m. according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s website. Campaign finance numbers were last updated on July 10. 

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