“We are going to save ourselves and save our country in 8 months,” former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake recently said at a rally in Cave Creek, Ariz. In a Senate race that could determine the majority rule in the upcoming political cycle, Lake has continued her campaign for the Senator seat. Arizona’s Senate race has tightened after incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was elected as a democrat but declared independent during her term, announced she would not be seeking reelection.
Lake, a former television anchor, is seeking election following a close loss in her first political campaign to current Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs in 2022. After the loss, Lake filed a number of lawsuits in an attempt to overturn the results, however none were successful, with the last being thrown out by an Arizona judge in May 2023.
“A lot of people ran for the hills after what happened in 2022,” Lake said during the rally. “We’re gonna fight for the sacred vote of every Arizonan.”
Her speech drew in supporters from across the state and country, including from as far as Minneapolis.
“I believe the election in Arizona was not free and fair, and that really bothers me a lot for the future of our country,” said Mike Hicks, a Minneapolis resident who attended the rally while on vacation. “Her bravery and her eloquency in being able to discuss that is very encouraging and inspiring to me and I really admire her.”
Lake in the past has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump and referenced his “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement frequently throughout her Cave Creek speech. She claimed she had MAGA “in (her) bone marrow.”
Some attendees, including Cave Creek resident Natalie Nai-che, were attending their first Lake rally, but had attended Trump rallies in the past.
“The Trump rally was in an airport hangar with thousands of people,” Nai-che said. “This is in our country little town of Cave Creek. I think the energy is still the same but the event itself is just the town of Cave Creek.”
During the rally, which featured a group prayer and country performance, Lake pledged to work with supporters like Nai-che to “save ourselves and our country.”
“I think we need to make sure that we take back our country,” Nai-che said. “We have gone too far to the other side. There’s absolutely no partisan politics whatsoever and it’s just been one sided.”
Outside the event, Jeff Northrupe, a resident of Maricopa, Ariz., held up signs and talked to people entering the event as a way to protest it.
“It would be tragic to have such a right wing, crazy, 100% Trump supporter get elected,” Northrupe said. “It’s just a shame to have people so stupid and out of contact with reality serving in Washington.”
Lake dedicated a portion of her event to attacking Rep. Ruben Gallego D-Ariz, who is now her only competitor in the race. Arizona voters are split nearly evenly across the categories of Republican, Democrat and Other, according to voter registration statistics.
Republicans currently hold a slight majority at 35.07%, but in her roughly hour-long speech, Lake appealed to voters across all categories.
“I’m ready to welcome people into this party,” Lake said. “This is gonna be the biggest political movement this country has ever seen.”
Lake will be appearing at a host of other events leading up to the election in November, including an event at Arizona State University on April 25, 2024. The event is hosted by the College Republicans at ASU club.
