JUST IN: Kari Lake Gets Major Boost In Senate Race

Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake scored another major endorsement in her campaign against incumbent Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).

On Monday, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) announced his support of Lake following her bombshell release of secret recordings where former Arizona GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit was heard urging the firebrand conservative to drop out of the race and “wait a few years” at the behest of East Coast donors ambivalent about her chances of winning in November. In a statement, Sen. Hagerty indicated that Lake is the woman of the moment to notch another victory that will help Republicans regain control of the Senate in 2025.

“I’m honored to endorse my friend Kari Lake to be Arizona’s next U.S. Senator. Kari is a strong, principled conservative, who knows and loves the people of Arizona and will make them proud as their elected representative. Kari is fearless, she doesn’t back down, and she will fight tirelessly to secure our border and make our country safe and prosperous. The stakes could not be higher and it is now more important than ever that we retake the Republican majority and get our country back on the right track for all working American families and citizens,” said Hagerty.

“I am thrilled to have the endorsement of a conservative force in the Senate, my friend Bill Hagerty. He has been a strong voice for securing our border and advocating for America First policies. I look forward to working with him to put America back on track,” Lake wrote in accepting Hagerty’s endorsement.

Hagerty, a staunch conservative who served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan under former President Donald Trump, handily won both the 2020 Republican primary and general election thanks to the endorsements and fundraising prowess of Trump and other conservatives including former White House advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle and then-Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, who opted against his own run.

While Lake has stood by President Trump through controversies surrounding his statements and actions related to the January 6th, 2021 breach at the Capitol, Sen. Hagerty wavered on some issues that gave the Trump world pause. After initially promising to refuse to certify the results of the Electoral College that day, Hagerty changed his mind following the breach. However, he opposed the creation of an independent commission to study the fallout as well as the select committee run by Democrats and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney which has been subject to heavy scrutiny in subsequent years.

Lake, who has already nabbed Senate endorsements by Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), is expected to easily win the Republican primary against several rivals who lack her national name recognition or fundraising network. Sen. Sinema, who has not committed to running for a second term, would face Lake as well as a Democratic rival in the general election since she left the Democratic Party last year. Her expected rival from the left is Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), someone Lake has already promised to his face to vanquish over his support for open borders under President Joe Biden.