Current:Home > NewsDemocrat Ruben Gallego wins Arizona US Senate race against Republican Kari Lake -MoneyBase
Democrat Ruben Gallego wins Arizona US Senate race against Republican Kari Lake
View
Date:2025-04-23 05:47:09
Follow AP’s coverage of the election and what happens next.
PHOENIX (AP) — Democrat Ruben Gallego has been elected Arizona’s first Latino U.S. senator, defeating Republican Kari Lake and preventing Republicans from further padding their Senate majority.
Gallego’s victory continues a string of Democratic successes in a state that was reliably Republican until Donald Trump was elected president in 2016. Arizona voters had rejected Trump-endorsed candidates in every election since, but the president-elect won Arizona this year over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris
“Gracias, Arizona!” Gallego wrote on the social platform X. He planned to speak to his supporters during a news conference Monday night.
With Gallego’s win, the GOP will have 53 seats in the 100-member Senate.
Gallego is a five-term House member and an Iraq War veteran with an up-by-the-bootstraps life story that he featured prominently in his public appearances and ads. He will replace Kyrsten Sinema, whose 2018 victory as a Democrat created a formula that the party has successfully replicated ever since.
Sinema left the Democratic Party two years ago after she antagonized the party’s left wing. She considered running for a second term as an independent but bowed out when it was clear she had no clear path to victory.
Gallego ran ahead of Harris, suggesting a substantial number of voters supported Trump at the top of the ticket and the Democrat for Senate, a pattern seen in Sinema’s victory and both of Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s wins in 2020 and 2022. Ticket-splitters also were decisive in the Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada Senate races this year, which Democrats won even as Trump won their states.
Republicans flipped Democratic-controlled Senate seats in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana. In the latter three cases, defeated Sens. Sherrod Brown, Bob Casey and Jon Tester also ran ahead of Harris but couldn’t overcome their states’ shifts toward the GOP.
Gallego led comfortably after the first results were released on election night, but his lead narrowed as more ballots were counted. Arizona is notorious for a drawn-out count because most people vote by mail — which takes longer to verify and process — including many who drop off ballots on Election Day.
The son of immigrants from Mexico and Colombia, Gallego was raised in Chicago by a single mother and eventually accepted to Harvard University. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and fought in Iraq in 2005 in a unit that sustained heavy casualties, including the death of his best friend.
Gallego maintained a significant fundraising advantage throughout the race. He relentlessly attacked Lake’s support for a state law dating to the Civil War that outlawed abortions under nearly all circumstances. Lake tacked to the middle on the issue, infuriating some of her allies on the right by opposing a federal abortion ban.
Gallego portrayed Lake as a liar who will do and say anything to gain power. He downplayed his progressive voting record in Congress and leaned on his personal story and his military service to build an image as a pragmatic moderate.
Lake is a well-known former television news anchor who became a star on the populist right with her 2022 campaign for Arizona governor.
What to know about the 2024 election:
- Turning promises into policy: Americans frustrated over high prices await the change Trump has promised. Proponents of school choice will have an ally in the White House once again, but private schooling suffered high-profile defeats in several states.
- Balance of power: Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate, giving the GOP a major power center in Washington. Control over the House of Representatives is still up for grabs.
- AP VoteCast: Democracy was a motivating factor for both Harris and Trump voters, but for very different reasons.
- Voto a voto: Sigue la cobertura de AP en español de las elecciones en EEUU.
News outlets globally count on the AP for accurate U.S. election results. Since 1848, the AP has been calling races up and down the ballot. Support us. Donate to the AP.
She has never acknowledged losing that race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book. She continued her unsuccessful fight in court to overturn it even after beginning her Senate campaign.
Her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that consecutive elections were stolen from Trump and from her endeared her to the former president, who considered her for his vice presidential running mate. But it compounded her struggles with the moderate Republicans she alienated during her 2022 campaign, when she disparaged the late Sen. John McCain and then-Gov. Doug Ducey.
She tried to moderate but struggled to keep a consistent message on thorny topics, including election fraud and abortion.
Lake focused instead on border security, a potent issue for Republicans in a border state that saw record border crossings during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration. She promised a tough crackdown on illegal immigration and labeled Gallego a supporter of “open borders.” She also went after his personal life, pointing to his divorce from Kate Gallego shortly before she gave birth. His ex-wife, now the mayor of Phoenix, endorsed Gallego and has campaigned with him.
veryGood! (925)
Related
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Poppi sodas 'are basically sugared water' due to low prebiotic fiber content, lawsuit says
- Taylor Swift breaks attendance record for female artist in Lyon, France
- The Best Amazon Father’s Day Gifts of 2024 Guaranteed To Arrive Before the Big Day
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Spencer Wright’s Son Levi, 3, Being Taken Off Life Support After Toy Tractor Accident
- Julie Bowen Reacts to Being Credited for Saving Sarah Hyland From Abusive Relationship
- How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Raising Daughter Lili Diana Out of the Spotlight
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- Dead black bear found in Arlington, Virginia was struck by car, illegally dumped, AWLA says
Ranking
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- USPS workers are attacked by dogs every day. Here are the U.S. cities with the most bite attacks.
- Texas softball edges Stanford, reaches championship series of Women's College World Series
- At 15 years old, Miles Russell is set to make his PGA Tour debut at Rocket Mortgage Classic
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- Why Michael Crichton's widow chose James Patterson to finish his 'Eruption' book
- Janis Paige, star of Hollywood and Broadway, dies at 101
- Felicity Actor Erich Anderson Dead at 67 After Private Cancer Battle
Recommendation
How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
How To Prepare Your Skin for Laser Hair Removal
California firefighters make significant progress against wildfire east of San Francisco Bay
MLB bans Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on baseball, four others get one-year suspensions
2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
Stock market today: Asian shares decline after report shows US manufacturing contracted in May
Musk’s X is allowing users to post consensual adult content, formalizing a prior Twitter policy
In cities across the US, Black and Latino neighborhoods have less access to pharmacies