Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) endorsed Arizona Republican Kari Lake in her bid for U.S. Senate on Monday, marking the latest in a string of prominent elected Republican officials to publicly back Lake.
“Kari Lake is the fighter Arizona needs to secure the border, unleash American Energy Independence, and lower the cost of living,” Cotton said in a statement first reported by Fox News’s Brandon Gillespie and later shared by Lake’s team in an emailed press release.
“Joe Biden’s policies have been a disaster for Arizona and Kari Lake will stand up to the Biden agenda and put Arizonans first. Let’s send Kari to the Senate and take back the majority,” he added.
Lake expressed her gratitude to Cotton:
I am grateful for the endorsement of Senator Cotton, someone who served our country honorably in the military, and has been a conservative warrior in the Senate. I look forward to working with Senator Cotton to secure our border and get America back on track from Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s Far Left agenda.
Cotton is the second U.S. Senator to back Lake, following Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-WY) – the third-ranking Republican in the upper chamber. She also boasts endorsements from former President Donald Trump and prominent House Republicans, including Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, as well as Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN), Burgess Owens (R-UT), and Cory Mills (R-FL).
Lake – a former Fox 10 Phoenix anchor and Arizona’s 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee – seeks the GOP nomination in a bid for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-AZ) seat.
Sinema’s team reportedly has worked to put the infrastructure in place for a candidacy as an independent after she defected from the Democrat Party in 2022, per the Wall Street Journal, though she has not officially declared a run. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is the leading candidate on the Democrat side of things.
Lake first has to contend with Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb in the Republican primary, and the winner could very well be part of a contentious three-way general race for the seat, with implications for the next Senate majority at play.
