Insiders Say Kari Lake Is Mounting Possible Senate Campaign

After being declared the loser of a 2022 gubernatorial race against Democrat Katie Hobbs that she refused to concede, Republican Kari Lake appears to have her eye on another prominent political post.

According to multiple sources close to the former news broadcaster, she is in the process of mounting a likely U.S. Senate bid that could be announced as early as next month. 

If she were to become the Republican nominee in that race, she would likely face off against U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who has already announced that he will be running for the seat currently occupied by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).

Although Sinema switched her partisan affiliation from Democrat to Independent last year, she still votes largely in lockstep with her former party. She has not yet announced whether she will be seeking re-election.

Caroline Wren, Lake’s senior adviser, is already making the case for the Republican to run, asserting: “Ruben Gallego and Kyrsten Sinema are rubber stamps for Joe Biden and his radical agenda. It’s time Arizona has a true conservative fighter in the U.S. Senate. The people of Arizona want Kari Lake to stay in this fight and are calling on her to run and she’s very likely to answer that call.”

Meanwhile, another trial is underway in Arizona related to last year’s gubernatorial race. Beginning Thursday, the court heard arguments from Lake’s attorneys that she should have access to the ballot return envelopes and signatures of about 1.3 million Maricopa County voters as part of an ongoing effort to back up claims of widespread election fraud.

“Maricopa created a facade of transparency and science to mislead the public about the integrity and scientific rigor of its signature-verification process,” argued Bryan Blehm, one of Lake’s attorneys in the case.

County officials say that releasing the information would represent a breach of privacy and insist that Lake has not presented sufficient evidence to warrant an exception to existing rules.

Blehm, however, insisted: “While the record may not establish whether Maricopa’s intentional acts merely resulted in Election Day chaos or whether Maricopa affirmatively planned that chaos, the most likely inference is the latter.”