Politico reports that the latest financial filings show Kari Lake, starting her 2024 bid for Arizona’s Senate seat, behind Democratic rival Ruben Gallego and incumbent independent, Kyrsten Sinema (look out for Sinema as a wild card for the mythical 3rd party choice in a 2028 presidential election).
Lake has a little over $1 million, Gallego $7 million, and Sinema $11 million.
Of course, Lake seems busier campaigning, these days, to be Trump’s Veep than to be an Arizona Senator (although the betting markets have her trailing considerably at a distant 6th place compared to the olden days).
Theoretically, once she inevitably nationalizes her local AZ race and not her Veep candidacy, her considerable following could start sending $ to AZ and overwhelm her rivals.
Lake has far more name recognition than Gallego, while her ability to earn free publicity is off-the-charts.
And consider that in the state’s most recent poll, she and Gallego are essentially tied, head-to-head, and the dead-lock remains in a 3 way race with Sinema.
So the numbers don’t mean much right now.
Except this.
How long will Lake do the national audition thing before Arizonans start getting annoyed and grumble, “She cares more about herself and her national ambitions than Arizonans?”
With every national headline, she runs the risk of turning that grumble into a significant problem in the Senate race, and if she loses yet another statewide race…. that’s not a good look if she’s running for president in 2028.
[Photo: Gage Skidmore]
