Rand Paul, Gaetz endorse Kari Lake in Arizona Senate race

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced Monday that they would be endorsing Republican candidate Kari Lake in the Arizona Senate race.  

Though most of Lake’s endorsements have come from allies of former President Trump, she’s also received the backing of key GOP figures including Senate No. 3 Republican John Barrasso (Wyo.) and Sen. Steve Daines (Mont.), the chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm, as Republicans in Washington, D.C., look to coalesce around her.

“Kari Lake will go to DC to shake things up, and that’s exactly the kind of leadership that Arizona needs in the United States Senate. I am proud to endorse Kari Lake for the United States Senate because she has the policies, the drive, and desire to defeat the Washington War Machine and restore American liberties,” Paul said in a statement upon his endorsement. 

“Kari Lake is MAGA to her core and cannot be bought by the establishment. I am proud to endorse her for the United States Senate in Arizona. I am very much look forward to watching her shake up the halls of power,” Gaetz wrote in his own statement.  

Lake in her own statement said she was “thankful” to have the endorsements from Paul and Gaetz, calling them “champions for fiscal responsibility, liberty, and fighting against the Washington War machine.” 

Lake is running against Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb for the GOP nomination, though she is seen as the heavy favorite. She’s expected to go against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) in the general election, while Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who currently holds the seat, has not said whether she plans to run for reelection. 

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates Sinema’s seat as a “toss up.”