Kari Lake's campaign for a Senate seat in the 2024 elections has the Arizona Republican seeking to shore up support from GOP colleagues by tapping moderate lawmakers.
The GOP lawmaker has given up the fire-and-brimstone approach that she has taken in her failed gubernatorial bid last year. She has now adopted a different track in her current Senate campaign; diplomacy.
Kari Lake's Senate Campaign
The Arizona lawmaker has also started to reach out to Republicans whom she attacked last year and is trying to repair the relationships that she broke. However, the prospect of her successfully doing so, or if her attempts to do so could simply anger her loyal base, may be the determining factor in how she fares in a potentially three-way race for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's seat.
Lake's biggest attempted detente so far is regarding Karrin Taylor Robson, who is her 2022 primary opponent. She was the one whom she once strongly insinuated was a gold digger using her husband's money to try and buy Arizona's governorship, as per Politico.
The two lawmakers previously met in October to discuss putting their 2022 race behind them and agreed to stay in contact with each other. Two people familiar with the discussions talked about the meeting and remained anonymous because they were not authorized to speak about it.
An individual close to Lake also described the conversation as "productive" while another person close to Robson said it was "cordial." The move is a sharp reversal after a brutal midterm where Lake bragged after her primary win. She said that she "drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine.
Lake's shift to a play-nice approach could pay off if it at all weakens Sinema's appeal with the more moderate wing of the GOP. The latter has not yet decided whether she will run in the Senate race. However, she has strong relationships with centrist Republicans in the state, particularly those in the mold of the late Sen. John McCain.
Winning Over Moderate Republicans
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik said that Lake is a proven conservative fighter who will work to secure the border, reduce the cost of living, protect values, and save America, according to Fox News.
Stefanik added that control of the Senate and the fate of the Republicans will be determined in the state of Arizona. She expressed her price in fully endorsing Lake for Senate, making her the first E-PAC Senate endorsement of the 2024 cycle.
In response to the endorsement, Lake said that she was "humbled" and praised Stefanik as a "proven conservative warrior and leader for the American people." She said that the chair has stood in the breach against the Radical Left over various issues, including the impeachment attempt against former President Donald Trump.
Republican consultants, including Barrett Marson, argued that Lake has a lot of work to do if she wants to win over moderate Republicans such as Robson and others. She added that the Arizona lawmaker has previously said awful things about them and even to independent voters who leaned to the right, said AZ Family.
