Arizona Republican Senate hopeful Kari Lake has dismissed an analysis of recent polling in the state carried out by Decision Desk HQ and The Hill, which gave Democratic rival, Representative Ruben Gallego, a near six-point lead, claiming it is based on “absurd partisan polls.”
Lake made the comment on Sunday during an interview with NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt where she also said she was ahead of Gallego based on “my internal polling.” The Senate seat is currently held by Kyrsten Sinema, who was elected as a Democrat, but now sits as an independent and who has announced she won’t be seeking reelection later this year.
There are currently 46 Democratic Senators and another four, including Sinema, who either caucus with the party or align with it for committee purposes giving the Democrats a wafer thin majority in the upper chamber. Republicans are hoping to seize control of the Senate in November, after failing to do so during the November 2022 midterm elections, to achieve which Sinema’s old seat in Arizona is a key target.
During her NewsNation interview Lake was asked about a study of recent surveys by Decision Desk HQ and The Hill which on August 22 gave Gallego, who currently represents Arizona’s 3rd congressional district in the House, a lead of 5.6 points. The analysis put Gallego on 47.6 percent, ahead of Lake on 42 percent.
Lake replied: “Well, there were a couple of really bad outlier polls that were included in that that were just absolutely absurd, partisan polls. I know what my internal polling looks like.
“I’m ahead of him, but it is a horse race. And I’ve gotten access to a lot of polls that aren’t public.
“We are the third-best chance for a pickup seat in these closely contested races. And I feel we’re going to win this one.”
Lake went on to describe Gallego as “an absolute dud,” adding: “This is somebody who’s voted in lockstep 100 percent of the time with [president] Joe Biden and [Vice President] Kamala Harris, the two most disastrous things to ever happen to our country.”
Newsweek contacted the Senate campaigns of Lake and Gallego for comment on Monday outside of regular business hours by online press inquiry form and email respectively.
U.S. Republican Senate candidate for Arizona Kari Lake in Glendale, Arizona, on July 31, 2024. Lake has blamed a recent analysis placing her nearly six points behind her Democratic rival on “absurd partisan polls.” U.S. Republican Senate candidate for Arizona Kari Lake in Glendale, Arizona, on July 31, 2024. Lake has blamed a recent analysis placing her nearly six points behind her Democratic rival on “absurd partisan polls.” LAURA SEGALL/AFP/GETTY
A poll of 677 registered voters in Arizona conducted by Sina College for The New York Times between August 8 and 15 gave Gallego a nine-point lead for the Senate seat. It put the Democrat on 51 percent of the vote against 42 percent for Lake, with the remainder either undecided or refusing to answer.
Lake and Gallego are due to hold a televised debate on October 9, which is being organized by the Arizona Clean Elections Commission. The Republican candidate confirmed she would take part earlier this month after initially refusing to commit.
In November 2022, Lake lost the Arizona gubernational election to Democrat Katie Hobbs by 49.7 percent of the vote against 50.3 percent. Lake claimed the contest had been rigged against her and launched a number of legal challenges against the result, but these were repeatedly rejected in court.
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