PHOENIX — Republican Kari Lake and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego faced off Wednesday night in Arizona’s first and only heated Senate debate, exchanging gunfire over the border, abortion, tax policy and more. unfolded.
Before the moderator could ask a single question, the swearing started.
“Arizona, we are at a crossroads,” Gallego said in his opening statement, highlighting Lake’s repeated election denialism. “I’m going to meet and talk to people who actually failed the basic test of honesty.”
Lake retorted: “Tonight, we see someone trying to reinvent himself, a former member of the Progressive Caucus who destroyed the very Congressional district he has served for the past 10 years. ”
As the candidates bounced from topic to topic for an hour on stage, the answers came back to key voters: traditional Republicans and independents who aren’t necessarily happy with Lake. Gallego continued to cite support from prominent Republicans in Arizona, while Lake talked about former President Donald Trump in an effort to prevent people who voted for Trump from crossing over in the Senate race. brought up repeatedly.
“The border mayors who used to campaign with her are now campaigning with me because they don’t think she’s serious about this,” Gallego said at one point. spoke. She added: “Donald Trump doesn’t seem to want to campaign with her anymore either. He’s not allowing her picture on his billboards. So this is what we’re seeing now. These are candidates who can only talk and not really deliver.”
Lake, who mentioned Trump by name multiple times throughout the debate, was quick to respond.
“My good friend President Trump used to call me ‘Cali of the Border,'” Lake said. “I love this nickname so much that I’m going to go to Washington, D.C., and help build the border wall and secure the border.”
A huge campaign bus parked outside the debate venue had a large photo of Mr. Trump and Mr. Lake, as well as large print advertising support for Mr. Trump. Campaign signs across Phoenix also feature pictures of Lake and Trump and read “Support Trump!”
In contrast, Gallego did not mention Vice President Kamala Harris’ name during the debate. In an interview with NBC News earlier this week, he said he was running “independently” from Harris. He has not attended most of her campaign events and state visits.
A major issue throughout the race is immigration and border security, a central theme for Arizona, which shares a southern border with Mexico. Those topics were brought back to the spotlight Wednesday night, when moderators devoted nearly half of their 60-minute debate to the issue.
Asked if he supports open borders, Gallego said, “A community without border controls is not a country.” “Absolutely not.”
Lake’s rebuttal focused on Laken Riley, a 22-year-old college student who was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant in Georgia, and emphasized the importance of the border. “We want to be able to go for a jog in the morning like Laken Riley and not have to worry about being killed, raped or murdered,” she said.
Lake reiterated his position in an interview with NBC News this week, saying he doesn’t support any part of the bipartisan border security bill, saying the bill “sent $115 billion overseas to kill people. ‘ made a false claim.
“The senators were not bipartisan,” Lake said, misleadingly referring to the bill’s three main sponsors. The bipartisan bill was negotiated by retired Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent who is vying for the vacant seat, along with Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma. .
Lake has long made the border issue a cornerstone of his campaign, accusing Gallego of supporting the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies. Meanwhile, Gallego has made bipartisan border legislation, which Trump and Lake opposed, a big part of his campaign.
“It’s a compromise that Border Patrol and Kali Lake supported, but she still can’t explain, she can’t explain why she opposed the bill,” he shot back.
Midway through, the moderators shifted the discussion to abortion. Early voting has already begun in the state, and Arizonans will vote on Proposition 139, an amendment to the state constitution that enshrines the right to abortion through fetal viability.
Mr. Gallego brought up Mr. Lake’s flipside about the 1864 abortion ban that Arizona repealed in 1864. The law would have banned all abortions, with exceptions for rape and incest. “She said it was a great law,” he said, referring to Lake’s comments about the 1864 Prohibition when running for governor in 2022. Lake voiced his opposition during his Senate bid.
“I want to make sure that UVF is protected,” Lake said, referring to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, the infertility treatment that has become the latest front in the political fight over reproductive rights. There is a high possibility that there are.
“He’s acting like he cares about us,” Lake said of Gallego, adding that while watching the debate, “he’s talking directly to women.”
Both candidates have been reminding potential voters about each other’s pasts for months. For Lake, that would anchor Gallego in his progressive past. For Gallego, this highlights Lake’s fervent election denialism after losing the 2020 presidential race and the 2022 gubernatorial race to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
Asked to say “once and for all” that he lost his campaign and unsuccessfully sued over it, Lake instead referred to an earlier question about Arizona’s water crisis, saying, “When it comes to water… Can I talk to you?” he replied.
After the debate, Lake’s campaign sent several surrogates to tell reporters that she “won” the debate and looked strong, while Gallego looked “weak.”
Speaking to the media immediately after the debate, Gallego said: that’s it. The weaker you are, the louder your voice will be. ”
