Yahoo Finance Kari Lake, previously a fire-breathing, hard-charging, far-right candidate for Arizona governor, may attempt to pivot to normie for her Senate bid
Kari Lake on Tuesday launched her bid for the Republican Senate nomination in Arizona.
Lake has long been one of the biggest proponents of former President Trump's 2020 election claims.
But during her kickoff, Lake didn't focus on grievances and instead framed election integrity as a bipartisan issue.
Last October, Kari Lake campaigned with an air of inevitability as she proposed a transformational Arizona governorship where she would pursue election reform and fight drug cartels along the US-Mexico border.
Lake, a former television journalist, enjoyed the backing of former President Donald Trump, and rumors swirled that she'd potentially be tapped to be his vice presidential running mate in 2024. But she narrowly lost the race to now-Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, an election result that she unsuccessfully challenged in court.
As one of the most vocal proponents of Trump's debunked claims regarding the 2020 presidential election, Lake repeatedly found fault in the gubernatorial results of her own race.
So when Lake announced her Senate candidacy on Tuesday, it was a surprise to many that she barely spoke about election fraud, only referring to election integrity in bipartisan terms. And a week earlier, she visited Washington to speak with GOP leaders about the race, a scenario that would have seemed unlikely months ago.
Here's how Lake is aiming to pull off a rebrand as she looks to join the Senate:
Still with Trump
The first big thing to note is that Lake, despite any sort of moderation with her language, is still a favorite of Trump.
She proudly touted the former president's endorsement on Tuesday, showing a video of him backing her campaign during the kickoff. (The move likely dooms the prospects of Blake Masters, the unsuccessful 2022 Senate nominee who The Wall Street Journal previously reported had been set to jump into the 2024 Senate race.)
But with the realization that she'll be running in one of the most competitive swing states in the country, she eschewed any fixation on "fraud" and instead emphasized a desire for election integrity.
"Fighting for honest elections is not a Republican issue. It's not a Democrat issue. It's an American issue," she said at the rally.
While Lake may still harbor resentment toward her own gubernatorial loss, the electorate in 2024 will be focused on the future — and not on the 2022 results.
A bridge to the establishment
Lake during her 2022 campaign ran as someone far removed from the traditional Arizona-style Republicanism defined by politicians like former Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jon Kyl, and the late Sen. John McCain.
She reveled in the fact that she won the GOP gubernatorial primary over the establishment's choice, attorney and former Arizona Board of Regents member Karrin Taylor Robson.
But as Lake looks to 2024 — in what will be an expensive race should she win the GOP Senate nomination — she has already met with key Washington Republicans.
Politico on Wednesday reported that during Lake's visit to Capitol Hill, she spoke with Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the chair of the Senate Republican Conference, along with Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
And Lake also met with Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, according to Politico.
Seeking inroads with allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will only help Lake down the line if she secures the GOP nomination.
A Three-Way Race?
Lake may find herself in a unique contest with independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema — who officially left the Democratic Party last year but has largely maintained a similar voting record — and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego.
Gallego remains the favorite to win the Democratic nomination, while Sinema has not yet announced if she'll seek reelection.
But a three-way contest may benefit Gallego the most, as recent polling suggests that Sinema could actually pull more support from a Republican candidate than Gallego.
In an Emerson College poll released in August, before Lake entered the race, Gallego led with 36% support, followed by Republican Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb (who's been in the race since April) at 29% and Sinema with 21% support — while 15% of respondents were undecided.
As more polling reflective of Lake's entry into the race emerges, it'll offer a better view of Lake's competitiveness in the Senate contest.
In last year's gubernatorial election, Lake earned 49.6% of the vote, losing by about 17,000 votes out of nearly 2.6 million ballots cast.
But the dynamics in 2024 will be different, and in a three-way contest, Lake will need to appeal to the independents and moderate Republicans who turned away from her campaign last year.
In Lake's speech on Tuesday, early signs of such an effort were seemingly underway as she focused heavily on the economic concerns of Arizonans across the political spectrum.
"There is not a gas pump out there for Republicans, and one for Democrats, right?" she told the crowd.
Only time will tell if Lake can convince many swing voters to give her a second look.
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