PHOENIX — Democratic Republican Ruben Gallego will be Arizona’s first Latino senator next year, NBC News projects, after defeating Republican Kari Lake in a lengthy vote count in one of the key swing states.
Gallego will replace Democratic independent Sen. Kirsten Sinema, who is retiring. This is the fourth consecutive Democratic Senate election in Arizona, which has fallen sharply to the middle under Donald Trump after solid Republican control. Trump won the state in 2016 and he won again cis year by what appears to be its largest margin of any of the major swing states.
But Joe Biden carried Arizona in 2020 as part of the state’s recent Democratic renaissance.
A key component of Gallego’s victory was his reinvention as a softer battlefield instead of the fiery progressive battle of his earlier days in politics. Gallego rose on the edge of the party in Arizona, alongside progressive Senator Bernie SandersI-V. and joining the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the House.
He largely shed the progressive label in his bid for the Senate and, among other endorsements, won the endorsement of one of Arizona’s major police unions this year, serving a state with more registered Republicans than Democrats.
Lake, meanwhile, couldn’t quite tone down the sharp edges of his political persona He lost a MAGA-aligned race for governor in 2022 and refused to admit defeat. A section of Republicans and independents could not come to terms with his candidacy, and he ran after Trump despite his best efforts to tie himself to his campaign.
Gallego has enjoyed the support of his party’s superior fundraising and greater outside spending, consistently outpacing Lake throughout the campaign before trailing him far behind in the money race in recent months.
Gallego, the son of Colombian and Mexican immigrants and a Marine veteran, added his own identity to his campaign over the summer by launching both the Veterans Gallego and Juntos John Gallego coalitions. , linking them to border security, comprehensive immigration reform and expanded mental health services for veterans.
Gallego focused on her party’s strengths, such as reproductive rights, but she also tried to address her party’s weaknesses head-on. border security. Lake tried to tie Gallego to Biden and his administration on a number of issues, but border security, in particular, was his main focus during their one-on-one debate in October.
Once a self-proclaimed “Trump in heels,” Lake branded Gallego with a collection of unsavory nicknames, including “swamp rat.” He went after her personally, bringing up the details of his divorce from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and trying to tie her to his progressive past.