Those disappointed by Kari Lake’s electoral defeat to Katie Hobbs in 2022 now have another opportunity to put her in high office, though this time at the federal rather than state level. That is because, according to a recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing, Lake is going to run for Arizona’s open Senate seat in 2024.
As background, former reporter Kari Lake is one of the few firebrand conservatives how is trusted by much of MAGA. Like Matt Gaetz and unlike the Swamp Creatures, such as McConnell and McCarthy, Lake has made it clear that she is fighting for the Trump base, not corporate interests.
That made her insanely popular with the MAGA contingent in the GOP, while the Establishment and those who lean its way are less enthusiastic about her. The left, for its part, despises and fears Lake in much the same way that it hates and fears former President Donald Trump.
In any case, investigative journalist and pro-Trump Twitter personality Laura Loomer took to X (formerly Twitter) to draw attention to Lake’s latest move. Posting a picture of the FEC filing, she captioned it by saying, “JUST IN: @KariLake has filed to run for US Senate in Arizona!”
JUST IN: @KariLake has filed to run for US Senate in Arizona! pic.twitter.com/xO5eFsc0SE
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 3, 2023
The Kari Lake War Room also tweeted about her decision to run, though less directly than Loomer:
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She’s Just Getting Started#Karizona#ArizonaFirst pic.twitter.com/JYwqRQvrBe
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) October 3, 2023
POLITICO, reporting on the lay of the land in Airzona for Lake, said, “Lake will enter the race as the heavy favorite to emerge from the GOP primary. But the general election is far less certain. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) has hinted that she plans to run for reelection as an independent, while Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has been campaigning for the seat for months.”
The Associated Press, for its part, indicated that Lake will have a hard time winning because of the state’s RINO women, reporting, “The state is emblematic of the party’s struggles to win over suburban voters turned off by Trump. In Lake’s loss last year, 11% of voters who identified as Republicans backed Hobbs, including 25% of Republicans who identified as moderate or liberal, according to AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of more than 3,200 voters in Arizona.”
Lake’s decision does mean that she will almost certainly not be running alongside Trump as his VP. However, she already has an alternative in mind: speaking about the matter recently, Lake suggested Trump should pick comedian Roseanne Barr, saying, “I know that if President Trump needs a female Vice President, I’m starting to think right now as I’m sitting here: Trump—Barr.”
Barr, for her part, noted that the stakes are dire when responding to Lake, saying, “Well, you know, wherever I could be useful fellow and sister citizens. I have the time and I think I’m smart and I’m definitely committed to the survival of this representational government of, by and for the people and I think that we can’t let it disappear from the Earth because it won’t ever come back.“