American Arizona State Police Association publicly supported Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump on August 23 and then announced its support for Democratic federal Senate candidate and Congressman Ruben Gallego on August 26. This highlights the dilemma of the Republican senatorial candidate Kari Lake and the decisive role of the ability to unite voters from different factions in the Senate elections in the state.
Arizona State Police Association (APA) supported Republican Kari Lake during the 2022 gubernatorial election, but during this year’s Senate race, they turned away from her and chose to support her Democratic opponent, Congressman Ruben Gallego.
APA Chairman Justin Harris made a statement on social media platform X on August 26, saying, “As a retired Marine veteran, we know Congressman Gallego understands the complexity of modern law enforcement in today’s American society, as well as the expectations of the public.”
“APA does not take our endorsement lightly; we understand the importance of having a U.S. Senator who can bring people together and improve society for everyone. We believe Congressman Gallego will become a U.S. Senator.”
The association noted Congressman Gallego’s support for legislation such as the “Investment Protection Act” and the “Enhanced Local Law Enforcement Funding Bill,” including allowing local police departments to use federal funds for recruitment and retention wages, as well as providing benefits for officers’ family members suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Just a few days earlier on August 23, the police association supported the Republican candidate, former President Trump, in the presidential election.
On that day at a campaign rally held by Trump in Glendale, Harris told Trump supporters, “We represent the Arizona State Police Association and are proud to welcome President Trump to the great state of Arizona.”
The split-party support decision by the Arizona State Police Association is particularly notable as the association supported Lake in the 2022 governor’s race against the Democratic incumbent, then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Hobbs narrowly won the gubernatorial election that year.
Nevertheless, Lake has still garnered support from other law enforcement groups in the state, including the Arizona Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs Association (ACPS), the Arizona Law Enforcement Association (ALEA), and the Phoenix Police Sergeants and Lieutenants Association (PPSLA).
Lake’s campaign team issued a statement on August 26 after the Arizona State Police Association announced its support for Gallego, stating that Kari Lake will always support police officers and other law enforcement personnel in blue uniforms, uphold law enforcement and ensure community safety. However, Gallego “supports defunding the police and has slandered law enforcement during his time in Congress. He supports open borders and is weak on crime.”
This refers to Gallego’s support for the “Black Lives Matter” and “Defund the Police” movements after the death of George Floyd, a Black resident of Minneapolis in 2020.
However, in this year’s election, Gallego has also garnered support from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), including some law enforcement and emergency personnel under the union.
In response to receiving the endorsement from the Arizona State Police Association, Gallego stated that he will support “tangible reforms and increased resources” for police officers.
In a thank-you statement, Gallego said, “I am proud to have the support of APA and look forward to working with them in the Senate to ensure that Arizona law enforcement has the resources necessary to combat fentanyl trafficking, train the next generation of officers, and most importantly, ensure Arizona families’ safety.”
Both Gallego and Lake easily won their respective party’s primary elections on July 30. The upcoming showdown between the two may become one of the most closely watched races in this year’s congressional elections. They are vying for the open seat left by Democratic-turned-independent Senator Kirsten Sinema, who decided not to seek re-election.
According to Real Clear Politics’ average of major polls on August 29, former President Trump holds a narrow lead in Arizona over the Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris by 0.3 percentage points. However, the Democratic Senate candidate Gallego leads significantly ahead of the Republican candidate Lake by 7.9 percentage points (50.0% to 42.1%).
The Arizona Republic’s digital page azcentral.com reported that the Arizona State Police Association’s shift in support for Lake occurred in May this year. At that time, Lake referred to a sheriff as a “coward.”
Lake criticized the Democratic “Defund the Police” movement and made combating the scourge of fentanyl abuse and overdose a major issue in her campaign. She believes law enforcement under Democratic leadership lacks reliable partners, attracting support from some law enforcement groups. However, her criticism of Sheriff Lamb has alienated some in law enforcement.
During a Republican Senate primary forum in May, Lake attacked her intra-party challenger, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, for not acknowledging fraud in the 2020 election and the 2022 Arizona governor’s race.
Lake said, “There aren’t many people willing to fight. I’ve taken hits every step of the way in our elections. Sheriffs are willing to fight, but Sheriff Lamb has backed down. As far as election integrity goes, he’s an absolute coward.”
Following Lake’s comments, nine of the other 14 county sheriffs in Arizona issued a joint statement condemning her remarks.
They said, “Kari Lake’s recent statement calling Sheriff Mark Lamb a ‘coward’ is baseless and disrespectful. We want to make it clear: neither Sheriff Mark Lamb nor any law enforcement officer who wears a badge and uniform and puts their life at risk every day to protect and serve our community is a coward. Arizona voters expect better from political candidates, especially when they’re running for U.S. Senator.”
Lamb responded to Lake by stating that Lake only began complaining about election fraud issues after losing the 2022 gubernatorial election, while he had been looking for evidence of widespread fraud in his Pinal County.
He said, “I don’t believe Joe Biden got 81 million votes. But I don’t live in a world of emotions and thoughts; I live in a world of evidence, where you can take a reasonable suspicion to court. Any of these people, including Kari, or any of them can present to me the evidence in court for action.”
The Arizona Republic noted that Lake’s attempts to imitate Trump’s combative approach have not worked well for her. Lake “seems more focused on promoting her personal brand and elevating her image rather than campaigning.”
Lake’s ally Sheriff Lamb, who lost to Lake in the Republican Senate primary, issued a warning message stating, “Donald Trump needs a workhorse in the Senate, not a show horse.”
At just 55 years old, Kari Lake is a former TV news anchor who ran for governor of Arizona in 2022 but did not succeed and is now running for a U.S. Senate seat.
With a bachelor’s degree in communication and journalism, Lake’s media career began in the early 1990s. She initially worked as a reporter and weather program anchor, later serving as a news anchor for over twenty years at Phoenix TV station KSAZ-TV. She interviewed President Obama in 2016 and President Trump in 2020.
Reportedly, Lake has undergone several party switches in her lifetime. She was initially a Republican, shifted to Independent in 2006, became a Democrat after Obama’s victory in the 2008 presidential election, switched back to Republican when Obama was still in office in 2012.
Lake left KSAZ in March 2021 and announced her gubernatorial campaign in June, receiving Trump’s support in September, leading to a significant victory in the Republican primary. Lake quickly became a rising star in the Republican Party attracting grassroots Republican voters with her sharp criticisms of liberal media and strong stances on border security and unwavering support for Trump.
However, in the 2022 gubernatorial finals, Lake narrowly lost to the Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs by 0.7%. In terms of political positions, Lake supports gun rights, opposes open borders and illegal immigration, opposes abortion but does not support a federal ban on abortion, endorsing Trump’s policy of leaving abortion rights to state authority.
In terms of foreign relations and national security issues, Lake opposes letting individuals with Chinese Communist background buy American farmland. In February 2023, while the recent years of Covid-19 pandemic were still fresh in people’s minds, Lake posted on Facebook saying, “Take back every inch of American farmland from China, don’t even give compensation. Not a penny. They (the CCP) are the ones who released the virus to the world. They owe us money as far as I’m concerned.”
44-year-old Ruben Gallego is a former U.S. Marine Corps veteran who has served five terms as a U.S. Congressman since 2015.
Born in Chicago, Gallego’s mother is a Colombian immigrant, and his father is a Mexican immigrant. He and his three sisters were raised by their single mother. Gallego earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Harvard University.
After graduating from college, Gallego joined the Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq. His unit in Iraq suffered 23 casualties, one of the highest casualty rates among Marine Corps units stationed in Iraq.
Returning from the Iraq battlefield, Gallego became involved in Arizona politics to support veterans’ affairs. In 2009, he served as Chief of Staff to Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski.
In 2010, Gallego was elected to the Arizona State House of Representatives, representing most of the Phoenix area. In 2014, Gallego ran for and successfully won the U.S. House of Representatives seat in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District. Following redistricting, the district became Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District, and Gallego has successfully campaigned for re-election in the 3rd District ever since.
On domestic policy issues, Gallego is considered a progressive Democrat and has supported abortion rights. He has been critical of former Democratic Senator and Kirsten Sinema’s moderate stance, prompting Gallego to announce his challenge to Sinema’s seat in the 2024 congressional elections in January 2023.
On foreign policy, Gallego supports Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, strengthens the U.S.’s alliance with Taiwan, and visited Taiwan in May 2018. During the Israel-Hamas war, Gallego voted in Congress to provide military aid to Israel.
The Arizona Republic stated that Gallego has shifted to a more moderate position on some of the key issues especially concerning illegal immigration in the 2024 elections.
Before, during his time in Congress, Gallego had advocated for a pathway to citizenship for “undocumented immigrants” without reservation and supported “defunding the police.” Now, his focus has shifted to ensuring border and port of entry security while increasing resources for border communities.
In 2017, Gallego strongly opposed then-President Trump’s border wall plan, calling it a “huge waste of money” and criticizing the wall not for border security but to “stoke American fears and anxieties about immigration.”
Recently, Gallego has supported a bill led by Senator Sinema, one he had previously criticized, concerning border reform legislation.
Gallego’s Republican opponent Lake has often attacked him on the issue of illegal immigration in campaign ads, while Gallego seeks to counter these attacks by promoting his work to protect southern border security proactively.
During the National Democratic Convention (DNC) held last week, Gallego distanced himself from President Biden and Vice President Harris on border security issues, even criticizing them for not adequately safeguarding border security.
Moreover, Gallego has faced criticism in the past for using profanity on social media and lacking engagement with the Black community in Phoenix. He is now making efforts to make changes.
In various polls in Arizona, Gallego has consistently maintained a lead over Lake. He has even garnered support from some independents and Republicans in recent weeks, with the latest endorsement from the Arizona State Police Association boosting his popularity.
With the Democrats holding a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, they are hopeful that Gallego can help secure their Senate seat in Arizona, or face the risk of a Republican takeover.
Currently, Lake is working to expand her appeal to a broader Republican and moderate voter base, but some still remain skeptical of her, indicating that she has much work to do. There are just over two months left until the November elections.
MSNBC reported that after Lake lost the support of the Arizona State Police Association, it was a clear sign that the Republican Party needs to adopt a new strategy in swing states like Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.