In the ongoing battle of the 2024 US elections, a highly watched Senate election has come to a conclusion. Democrat Ruben Gallego defeated Republican and former news anchor Kari Lake to become the first Latino federal senator from Arizona.
According to reports by the Associated Press, as of Monday night, Gallego had a 50% vote share while Lake had 47.8%, with a difference of approximately 72,600 votes. This outcome was based on 95% of the votes counted.
Shortly after the election results were announced, Gallego took to social media platform X, expressing his gratitude to Arizona.
At the time of this report, Lake had not publicly commented on the results. Late that night, she posted on X the Arizona state motto “Ditat Deus” (God enriches) along with a picture of her back at a campaign rally.
In the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, Lake lost to then-Secretary of State and Democrat, Kathleen Hobbs. In that election, Republicans raised allegations of election fraud.
As a staunch ally of Trump, Lake lost multiple legal battles regarding election results, including a recent one in June.
Gallego, a Harvard graduate and a former US Marine who served in Iraq, was first elected to Congress in 2014 after serving in the Arizona House of Representatives.
Lake and Gallego competed for the Senate seat vacated by Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party after clashing with the party’s left wing two years ago. Sinema had considered running for re-election as an independent but decided against it when she realized her chances of winning were slim.
Lake and Gallego held a debate on October 9, discussing key issues such as abortion and immigration, which are central concerns for the public, especially in Arizona’s southern border region.
Lake criticized bipartisan bills proposed in the Senate earlier this year, claiming that the bills would lead to a surge in illegal border crossings. She argued that illegal immigrants “take away jobs and housing” but added that she “fully supports legal immigrants.”
Gallego defended the legislation, stating that it would provide much-needed technology for border law enforcement.
In the weeks leading up to the election, the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics both rated Arizona’s race as favorable to the Democratic Party.
Most pre-election polls predicted that Gallego would lead Lake.
The average results from the RealClearPolling platform showed Gallego leading by 4 percentage points as of October 31. Although a late October survey by Data Orbital indicated Lake leading Gallego by 1 percentage point, subsequent polls conducted towards the end of the campaign period consistently showed Gallego in the lead.
A poll by the Marist College showed former President Trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris by 1 percentage point, while Lake trailed Gallego by 8 percentage points.
Both Gallego and Lake delivered speeches at their respective party conventions this summer.
In the days leading up to the election, Gallego distanced himself from comments comparing Trump supporters to trash made by President Biden. He stated that no politician should talk about anyone in that manner, regardless of who they are.