Kari Lake gears up for Senate run after failed bids to overturn 2022 election loss: report

Pro-Trump former Phoenix news anchor and failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is hiring staffers for a planned October launch of her Senate campaign for Arizona, Axios reported on Tuesday.

"The race will have implications in the presidential campaign and give President Biden an opportunity to run against the 'ultra MAGA' mindset that Lake represents, even if former President Trump isn't Biden's opponent in November 2024," reported Juliegrace Brufke and Hans Nichols. "Lake, who has not conceded her gubernatorial loss in 2022, is one of Trump's most ardent defenders and frequently amplifies the false election claims at the heart of the former president's most recent indictment."

This comes after Lake has filed a series of lawsuits to try to get her election loss against former Secretary of State Katie Hobbs thrown out. She has pushed a number of allegations of vote rigging, based in part on reports of malfunctioning election tabulators, and been smacked down repeatedly in court, including by the Arizona Supreme Court.

The Arizona Republican Party itself has fallen on hard times; last month, reports indicated the party is down to just $50,000 in the bank, after racking up legal expenses trying to overturn election losses in court.

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As all of this is happening, speculation continues to swirl about Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a moderate lawmaker who left the Democratic Party to become an independent after last year's midterms. Polling suggests that she would trail in third place if she runs for re-election against a Democratic and Republican candidate, and that in fact she may pull more voters from Republicans than Democrats.

Democrats' leading candidate for the race is Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Marine veteran and representative of Phoenix.