Kari Lake Gains Ground in Arizona Senate Race, Remains Behind Gallego

(Left) Kari Lake speaks in Dallas on Aug. 5, 2022. (Right) Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., in the Capitol, on July 14, 2022. AP Photo

Republican Kari Lake has gained ground in the race for a U.S. Senate seat representing Arizona but is still behind Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.).

Gallego was up by 2.5 percent on Nov. 6. That lead shrank to 1.7 percent on Nov. 7 and 1.5 percent on Friday with more ballots reported.

Gallego now has 1.32 million votes to Lake’s 1.28 votes, as of 5:40 p.m. on Friday. The margin of 52,578 votes on Wednesday dropped to 40,344 on Friday.

While vote counting in many states has been completed or is nearing completion following the Nov. 5 election, Arizona officials still have yet to process ballots from about a quarter of precincts.

“There are lawyers and trained observers monitoring tabulation of ballots, duplicating, and adjudication until we are done. I’m in constant touch with Kari’s lawyers and supporters about this and we are watching every ballot drop,” Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer who leads an election integrity team for state and national Republicans, said on the social media platform X.

Lake and campaign officials have been expressing confidence that Lake, who lost the 2022 gubernatorial election, will ultimately win the Arizona Senate race. They’ve been urging people to cure ballots, meaning fix mistakes on ballots so their votes are counted. Under Arizona law, voters have five days after Election Day to fix issues with their ballots.

Gallego said on Wednesday that “we are closely watching as results come in, and we’re feeling very optimistic.”

Gallego and Lake are competing to fill a seat held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), a former Democrat who chose not to run for another term. Gallego, a military veteran, has represented Arizona’s Third Congressional District since 2015. Lake is a former news anchor.

Lake ran for Arizona governor in 2022 but lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs. The Arizona Supreme Court this week turned down Lake’s most recent appeal of the race, which Lake has maintained she won.

Republicans have already flipped control of the U.S. Senate in the election. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice won the race to fill a seat held by Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), who recently left the Democratic Party. Businessman Bernie Moreno unseated Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Veteran Tim Sheehy took down Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). Businessman Dave McCormick defeated Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

As of the current projections, Republicans will have 53 Senate seats in the next Congress, compared to 45 for Democrats or nominal independents who caucus with the Democrats.

Besides the Arizona race, the race in Nevada has yet to be called.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) is trying to defend her seat against veteran Sam Brown. With 96 percent of precincts reporting as of Thursday, Rosen led Brown by 17,553 votes out of more than 1.3 million cast.