Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is one of the current darlings of the Republican Party’s growing MAGA wing. While she is still steadfastly battling the state’s courts to challenge the results of the 2022 governor race against Democrat Katie Hobbs, she is also starting to field questions about possible what-ifs for 2024.
Governor was her first choice, but now she might even have the option of Senator or Vice Presidential candidate on the table. Speaking to conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk, Lake strongly hinted she’d consider a Senate run in the next election cycle if she is unable to persuade the Arizona courts to look at her current legal challenges.
“I don’t know politically what I will do next. I never had any desire to get into politics, and the people of Arizona recruited me to run for governor and we have led an amazing movement of We The People,” Lake said, before saying that a U.S. Senate “is something I will seriously consider.”
“I’ve looked at a lot of polling, probably five polls showing that I can not only win handily in a primary, but I can go on to win the entire race for Senate,” she continued.
Bolstering Lake’s consideration for the Senate is a recent poll that shows her coming out head of a possible three-way race against incumbent Kyrsten Sinema, who has switched her party registration from Democrat to Independent, and House Democrat Ruben Gallego, who has announced a bid.
“An early 2023 survey of likely general election voters illustrates that Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s path to reelection is both complicated and unprecedented. Sinema runs a distant third in a hypothetical three-way race in the general that also includes 2022 GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego,” Blueprint Polling found.
“Kari Lake polls at 36% in a three-way Senate race with Gallego and Sinema. The congressman follows closely at 32% while the incumbent polls less than 14%. One in six voters are undecided. Sinema draws support from both Republicans and Democrats—she gets the vote of 15% of Biden 2020 voters and 11% of Trump 2020 voters,” the group added.
And as if Lake didn’t have enough to consider, Axios reported that Kari Lake could possibly see herself running alongside Donald Trump in 2024.
“Former President Trump is strongly considering picking a female running mate — and sees Kari Lake as a model for his vice presidential pick, according to people who discussed the topic with him. Trump is already gaming out the general election in November 2024 — and knows he has a massive weakness with the white suburban women he would need to beat President Biden,” Axios said.
The American Tribune also previously reported on the swirling rumors that Kari Lake was potentially on the shortlist of Donald Trump running mates, citing an article from Axios. The American Tribune reacted to the Axios story, saying:
Arizona’s 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake responded to rumors that Donald Trump was strongly considering her as running mate in next year’s 2024 presidential election. Trump has gone on record saying he is “seriously” considering her for the position.
Axios jumped on the story, saying Lake was a “model” pick for vice president, especially, as it noted, because Trump’s “massive weakness is with…white suburban women.”
“Lake, a former TV anchor who lost her race for Arizona governor in November, meets Trump’s most important qualification for a No. 2: She has shown she’s willing to defend him vociferously, no matter the issue or controversy. But Trump friends say Lake carries a big downside: He wants no risk that his running mate could outshine him. Lake would be assumed to be angling for president from the day she entered the White House. She made a political trip to Iowa last month,” the Axios report added.
“I am 100% dedicated to serving as Arizona Governor. I will also work to make sure President Trump gets back in the White House ASAP. Anything outside of those two goals is nothing but a distraction,” Lake told the Daily Mail in reaction to that bomhsell Beltway gossip.
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