Arizona Republican Kari Lake continues to tease a potential Senate run this fall, saying she expects a decision to come in the “next couple of months” during an interview on Sunday.
Lake, the polarizing conservative who lost her election for governor last year, refused to address the speculation that she’s gearing up for a Senate launch when asked by Fox News host Maria Bartiromo during an interview.
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“I’m contemplating it,” Lake said in response. “I mean, I could go off and go back into media and make a fortune, but this is not the season for that, this is the season for saving our country.”
The former TV news anchor is expected to begin interviewing and hiring consultants and staff in anticipation of an October launch date, setting up a potential three-way race with incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ).
Over the last couple of months, the race has been at a standstill. Sinema has not yet said if she is running for a second term, after leaving the Democratic Party late last year and becoming an independent. Gallego, the likely Democratic nominee who announced his run in January, appears to be the only candidate actively campaigning, holding multiple monthly town halls across the state.
The only Republican in the race, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, announced his candidacy in April but is widely considered an underdog if he were to be in a Republican primary against Lake.
“We have an opportunity to pick up a seat and prevent it from falling into the hands of somebody who is a socialist or worse and taking and getting an America First senator in D.C.,” Lake said. “I’m contemplating it and I’ll make a decision here in the next couple of months.”
Lake made similar comments during an interview with NewsNation’s The Hill last week.
“I’m seriously considering — we need a senator in Arizona who will put the people of Arizona first, who will put America first, who’s not a leftist who votes with Joe Biden 93%-100% of the time, and I think Arizona’s ready for that,” she said.
Lake was one of the most vocal of last year’s Republican candidates who promoted former President Donald Trump’s claims to have won the 2020 election. After narrowly losing her bid for governor to Democrat Katie Hobbs, Lake continues to challenge the outcome and has never conceded her gubernatorial loss in 2022. A judge in Arizona dismissed her legal claims, finding Lake failed to prove that Maricopa County did not verify signatures on mail ballots as required by law in May.
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If Lake should decide to run, she’s signaling her messaging for a Senate campaign would be similar to her gubernatorial one.
“Yeah, it would be just like the general election. Rooting out election fraud is important to her,” a senior adviser to Lake said during an interview earlier this summer. “There were plenty of other focuses in the governor’s race. It's just the journalists always ask about election stuff because that’s the salacious stuff they like to talk about.”