Kari Lake defeats Mark Lamb in Arizona's closely watched GOP Senate primary

Kari Lake won the U.S. Senate nomination for Republicans as expected on Tuesday, but unofficial results suggest a far narrower victory over Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb than her campaign touted two weeks before voting began.

The Associated Press called the race for Lake at 8:44 p.m., though the scale of her win remained unclear as vote-counting is expected to continue for days.

If the final margins stay well below the 30-percentage point difference Lake’s campaign cited in mid-June, it could deepen longstanding concerns among Republicans in Arizona and nationally that she cannot defeat Democrat Ruben Gallego in November.

Lake didn’t address the margin in the race by the time she declared victory with her supporters on Tuesday night. She urged those who didn’t vote for her to come together as Americans to defeat Gallego.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck moment,” Lake said. “Our country is at a crossroads. … We’ve got to come together as Americans. We have watched what has happened over the last three and a half years. We only have three and a half months to save this country.”

Lake praised Lamb as a “man of great character” who “never hit below the belt” in their campaign. Lamb had not publicly conceded the race late Tuesday as Lake claimed victory.

With little money, little television visibility, and no prominent endorsements or surrogates to make his case, Lamb seemingly benefited from a deep reservoir of Republicans hesitant to support Lake.

Lake raised five times more money than Lamb and has 16 times more followers on the social media site X. She has the backing of former President Donald Trump, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and 23 of the 49 Republicans currently in the Senate.

Lamb had no notable GOP endorsements.

In a statement, Gallego immediately reiterated his view that Lake is a threat to Arizonans.

“In the 554 days since we launched this campaign, Arizonans in every corner of the state have made clear that they want a U.S. Senator who can bring people together to defend abortion rights, cut costs for families, protect our water future, and take care of our veterans — and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” he said.

“From now until November, I welcome all Arizonans — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike — to join our team and help defeat Kari Lake and her dangerous plan to ban abortion and hurt Arizonans.”

The Senate Majority PAC and American Bridge 21st Century, Democratic-aligned organizations, similarly issued quick statements hitting Lake as an election denier and an extremist.

Karrin Taylor Robson, a one-time political opponent during the 2022 gubernatorial campaign, backed Lake and other Republicans on Tuesday night, offering her full endorsement. It was something Lake had privately sought for months and quickly secured after her primary win.

The chair of the NRSC, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., gave no indication of concern over Lake’s apparent showing. He called on Arizona voters to unite against Gallego.

“Congratulations to Kari Lake on her commanding victory in tonight’s primary,” he said in a written statement. “Arizonans must unite to defeat Ruben Gallego, one of the most radical Democrats in the country. Ruben Gallego will work with Kamala Harris to abolish (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), defund the police, and pass more reckless spending that will drive prices up. Kari Lake will work with President Trump to secure the border, get crime under control, and bring down prices.”

Arizona primary results: Primary election results to be updated throughout week

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee quickly released a digital ad that makes clear how they intend to frame the race. The ad calls her dangerous and a liar. It plays up her opposition to abortion rights and reminds voters of her longstanding contempt for the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Lake narrowly lost the 2022 gubernatorial race to Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, and has remained in litigation ever since trying to overturn that result.

Gallego, a five-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, didn’t face any challengers in his party’s primary Tuesday and has millions more than Lake in campaign cash even though his ads have been a fixture on screens in Arizona for months.

Republican Elizabeth Jean Reye was a distant third in the GOP primary.

In the Green Party primary, Mike Norton, a candidate with ties to Democrats, held a narrow lead over Arturo Hernandez, a candidate with ties to Republicans. It wasn’t immediately clear how write-in candidate Eduardo Quintana, a longtime member of the Green Party, was faring.

It sets up a showdown featuring Gallego and Lake to determine who will succeed retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.

Gallego has generally led in public polling since Sinema announced in March she would not seek a second term.

Lake handled her primary win as a formality, avoiding even saying Lamb’s name and skipping a face-to-face debate with Lamb in June.

On June 13, Lake’s campaign justified her decision to skip the debate by suggesting she had a commanding lead over Lamb.

“She is up 30 (percentage) points in the polls and is focused on defeating (U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.) and winning Arizona with (former President Donald Trump),” the campaign said in a statement at the time.

Besides, Lake said a candidate forum in which she and Lamb appeared from separate locations, served as their debate.

That occasion was notable for Lake calling Lamb a “total coward when it comes to election integrity.”

It alluded to Lamb’s February 2023 testimony to Congress that included a question of whether there was “fraud that had a material impact on the 2020 election.” Lamb said he had seen “zero evidence” of that, and later explained that he meant that he could only speak for his county.

Lamb pushed back on the matter several times afterward in a sign that her attack may have resonated with GOP voters.

Lake entered the Senate race in October after months of anticipation that she would do so.

Her campaign closely hewed to the issues and messages Trump made popular years ago. Illegal immigration is out of hand, inflation is out of control and crime and overdoses are rampant, she has argued to voters.

Lamb’s assessment of America under President Joe Biden was little different.

What mattered, Lamb insisted, is that he has experience as a sheriff in combating illegal drugs and immigration. He also noted he won two elections in the process of becoming the sheriff. It drew a contrast with Lake, whose only prior run ended in defeat.

Both candidates support building the border wall along the southern border. Both support the rollback in abortion rights following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022.

But Lake struggled to say whether she supported Arizona’s 19th century near-total ban on the procedure that state lawmakers eventually repealed under public pressure. By contrast, Lamb said he supports tight restrictions on abortion.

Perhaps the biggest difference between Lake and Lamb was the outsized attention she regularly attracted.

Lake went from a fixture of local television in the Phoenix area to a prominent Trump surrogate on national conservative programs.

While she was a hit with many Trump supporters, her standing with the broader public fell.

In the nearly two years since she lost the gubernatorial race, Lake filed several failed lawsuits claiming widespread fraud that sought to overturn her defeat. That election denialism built on her insistence that Trump’s 2020 loss owed to election theft as well.

Last year Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, sued Lake for defamation over her baseless claims he rigged the 2022 election, saying her words had led to threats to him and his family.

Lake didn’t challenge his claims in court filings, resulting in a default judgment against her. The case is now moving to assess what, if any, damages Lake owes Richer.

Now, as Lake’s campaign fully pivots to the general election, she must overcome Gallego’s lead in polls and money. How much help she gets from fellow Republicans could depend in part on how convincingly she defeats Lamb.

Democratic-aligned organizations have reserved advertising time in the fall for Arizona’s U.S. Senate race in a way that dwarfs Republican commitment to this point.

With Arizona’s late primary now ending, those spending plans figure to take on added significance as a sign of how seriously each party views the race. A third of the 100 Senate seats are on the ballot across the country, but no more than eight of those races are seen as truly up for grabs.

First results expected at 8 p.m. Tuesday: Arizona primary election results

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Senate race: Kari Lake, beats Mark Lamb in GOP Senate primary