Battle for Virginia: Early GOP Ballots Outpace 2021, 2022 Rates

Republicans, who have generally preferred so-called “Game Day” voting on Election Day, have begun to embrace early voting either in-person or by mail—and they are outpacing where they were in 2022 and 2021, according to analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project.

Sixteen days before the November 7 Election Day, Republicans were responsible for 39 percent of early voting ballots and 26 percent of mail-in ballots.

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Minnesota Democrat Calls on Phillips to Resign for Challenging Biden

A Minnesota state senator is calling on fellow Democrat Dean Phillips to resign his congressional seat over reports that he will challenge President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary.

“[Rep. Dean Phillips] it’s time for you to resign your seat. I could not be more disappointed in you. You will never have my support again for any elected office, including your Congressional seat. Make America Affordable Again? Pretty rich coming from a multi-millionaire,” said Minnesota Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL-Plymouth, who represents portions of Phillips’ Third Congressional District in the state Senate and has campaigned with the congressman in the past.

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In Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman, He Reveals How He Believes Votes Were Switched in Georgia’s 2020 Election

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, finished a partial ninth week on Tuesday, as the renowned former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas explained how he thought fraud occurred in the 2020 election. The State Bar of California is attempting to disbar him over advice he gave Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence regarding accepting electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud.

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Virginia Poll: 57 Percent Percent Approve of Youngkin; Generic Ballot Has Democrats, Republicans Tied at 50 Percent

With less than two weeks before Virginia’s November 7 legislative elections, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin continues to get high marks from commonwealth voters, as the voters are split evenly between Republicans and Democrats on a generic legislative ballot.

Respondents were asked: “Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s job performance?” Fifty-seven percent approve of the commonwealth’s helmsman, with 43 percent disapproving, according to a poll conducted by Founders Insight with 969 likely voters October 14 through October 17. The poll carries a 3.91 percentage point margin of error.

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Commentary: Bidenomics Takes Its Toll on Biden 2024

Drops in inflation-adjusted compensation and wages preceded the losses of Harry Truman in 1952, who opted not to run, Gerald Ford in 1976, Jimmy Carter in 1980, George H.W. Bush in 1992 and Donald Trump in 2020, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

They also preceded the historic wipeouts of Republicans in 2008 by Barack Obama and Senate Democrats in the 1958 midterms, and the Republican House wins of the 2010 and 2022 midterms.

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Former Trump DOJ Attorney Urges D.C. Bar to Delay His Disbarment Trial Pending Georgia RICO Prosecution with Trump

Jeffrey Clark, an attorney who served at high levels of the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump, including briefly as acting Attorney General, has been indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis along with Trump in the racketeering case over the 2020 election challenges, and charged with dishonesty and attempting to interfere with the administration of justice by the District of Columbia Bar. The charges in both relate to a memo Clark drafted about 2020 election irregularities in Georgia addressed to Georgia officials that was never sent. His bar disciplinary trial is scheduled for January, but he has been attempting to postpone it until after the criminal proceedings are finished.

On Thursday, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility held a hearing to consider his deferral request. The court is expected to issue a ruling shortly. 

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Franklin Mayor Ken Moore Re-Elected in Landslide Victory over Gabrielle Hanson

Franklin Mayor Dr. Ken Moore won re-election Tuesday night against Gabrielle Hanson by a landslide margin, according to unofficial election results by the Williamson County Election Commission.

With all eight voting centers reporting shortly after 8:00 p.m., a total of 12,822 votes were counted for Moore, while just 3,322 votes were counted for Hanson. Only 65 voters voted for a different candidate.

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Outsider Libertarian Javier Milei Advances to Run-Off Presidential Election in Argentina

Argentina’s right-wing populist presidential candidate Javier Milei will head to a run-off after failing to win the first round of the presidential election on Sunday.

Milei and former security minister Sergio Massa will face off again in November in a runoff vote, according to the New York Times. The election has become a high point of contention as Milei has said he seeks to rid the country of leftist policies while his opponent, Massa, hopes to keep the left-wing administration that has held power since 2019, according to The Associated Press.

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Virginia Voters Split: General Assembly Battle Poll Shows Democrats, Republicans in Virtual Tie

Control of the commonwealth’s General Assembly is up for grabs, with 42 percent of voters choosing Democrats, 41 percent choosing Republicans, according to a poll conducted by the Wason Center for Civic Leadership September 28 through October 11 of 800 likely voters.

The poll carries a 4-percentage point margin of error, putting the battle for the state house at a virtual tie.

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Expert in Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Contrasts ‘Unusual’ Vote Spikes for Biden in 2020 Compared to Hillary Clinton’s Election

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman continued on Thursday during its eighth week, featuring testimony from statistician Dr. Stanley Young and two character witnesses. Young, who has been designated as an expert by California Bar Disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland, spent much of the time discussing the election contrast report he co-authored with a team of statistical PhDs, which focused on what he repeatedly characterized as “unusual” differences between the number of votes Joe Biden received in 2020 versus the number of votes Hillary Clinton received in 2016.

Eastman’s attorney Randy Miller began his line of questioning asking Young about the report, which focused primarily on 10 states. Young observed how California stood out in comparison to the other states, with Biden receiving around 800,000 more “unexpected” votes than Clinton, taking into account the growth in population. In two states that decreased in population, there were around 300,000 more unexpected votes for Biden in New York, and Illinois got 75,000, he said. In some states that had population increases, the increases were significantly higher than those increases. Arizona and North Carolina each had 80,000 unexpected votes for Biden, Texas had 200,000, and Georgia over 200,000.

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In His Disbarment Trial, Trump’s Attorney John Eastman Discusses Alarming Findings of Wrongdoing from Official Reports About the 2020 Election

The eighth week of the disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman wrapped up on Friday, featuring more testimony by Eastman as well as three of his character witnesses. Eastman discussed the evidence he relied upon when he gave Trump advice regarding what to do about the possibility there was cheating in the 2020 election, including official reports from the Georgia General Assembly, the Georgia State Election Board, and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s office. 

Eastman’s attorney Randy Miller asked him about a Nov. 13, 2020 report that the Georgia State Election Board had Seven Hills Strategies prepare about problems in the 2020 election, which Eastman said he’d relied on. It discussed chain of custody issues surrounding ballots and the integrity of their transportation, lack of transparency, lack of access for Republican Party monitors, and incompetency by election officials. California Disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland, who contributed to Democrats while serving on the bench, refused to let him discuss it.

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Trump Endorses Jim Justice in West Virginia Senate Race

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday endorsed West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice in the state’s 2024 Senate race.

Justice, the state’s two-term governor, is currently seeking the Republican nomination and faces Rep. Alex Mooney in that contest. The winner of the primary will go on to seek the seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who has yet to announce his reelection plans.

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Trump Gaining Ground with Young Voters: Poll

Former President Donald Trump is gaining ground with young voters ahead of 2024, and is faring better than President Joe Biden among the electorate, according to a Friday poll.

Trump is leading Biden among voters aged 18 to 29 by 2 points, as well as with 30- to 39-year-olds by 11 points, according to an Emerson College survey. Trump is also leading Biden in a head-to-head matchup 47% to 45% nationally, with 8% remaining undecided.

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Minnesota Rep. Signals to Colleagues He’s Planning to Challenge Biden for Presidential Nomination: Report

Minnesota Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips has signaled that he is planning on running against President Joe Biden in 2024, Politico reported Thursday.

Phillips has been considering a White House bid for months, and relayed his aspirations to run to House colleagues, two sources familiar told Politico. The congressman has signaled that he’s inching toward a presidential campaign, as the outlet reports that he reached out to the New Hampshire Democratic Party last week and approached potential staffers to bolster his expected efforts in the key early state.

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Commentary: Biden’s Failures on Economy, Immigration, and Foreign Policy Are Driving Youngest Voters Away

President Biden’s failures with young voters goes far beyond the crippling double-digit declines in support he is suffering across battleground states compared to 2020. Democrats are utterly failing to secure loyalty from Gen Z leading into the 2024 election and are facing lower approval ratings from Zoomers than they are from slightly older Millennials.   

Gen Z voters – ages 18 to 24 – are emerging into a chaotic economy fraught with crippling inflation, waves of illegal immigration, rising crime, and an unstable world stage, and many are blaming Democrats to a degree that Obama-generation Millennial voters didn’t.

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Commentary: Democrats Begin Scapegoating Biden

Listen closely and you will hear Biden being scapegoated for Democrats’ policy failures. In 2020, Democrats had only one candidate who could beat Trump, and Biden had only one candidate whom he could beat. It was a match made in heaven. Now, three years in, that heavenly match is looking devilishly difficult, and doubting Democrats have only themselves to blame.

Hardly a day goes by without a story about Democrat angst over the president’s poor poll numbers. After winning in November 2020 with 51.3 percent of the popular vote, Biden rose further in the approval polls, reaching 55.7 percent on April 4, 2021, according to the RealClearPolitics national polling average. From there it has been an unmistakable plunge. On Oct. 18, RCP’s average of national polling had Biden at just a 40.8 percent approval rating (versus 55.1 disapproval).

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Poll: Ohioans Show Strong Support for Abortion Rights and Recreational Marijuana

Less than three weeks before Election Day a new poll shows Ohio voters favor constitutional amendments on enshrining abortion rights and legalizing recreational marijuana.

The Baldwin Wallace University poll of 850 registered voters, with 750 identified as likely voters, showed 58% favor Issue 1, which says every individual has a right to make and carry out their reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility, treatment, continuing one’s pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion.

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In Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman, He Discussed How Nixon Exercised Substantive Authority Accepting Electoral Slates

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman is in its eighth week, and expected to continue into a ninth week. On Wednesday, Eastman testified all day, focusing especially on the 1960 election and then-Vice President Richard Nixon’s role deciding which of three electoral slates from Hawaii to accept. 

Eastman said Nixon received three slates of electors from Hawaii, including one that was not certified — the second one from the Democrats. Nixon opened up all three envelopes and chose which one to accept, the third Democratic one that was certified by the governor after the recount. None of the alternate slates of electors in the 2020 election were certified by a state government entity.

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Commentary: Trump Ahead in Battleground States

New polling from Redfield & Wilton Strategies shows Former President Trump ahead of President Biden in four out of six battleground states, including two he lost by razor-thin margins in the 2020 election. The data also shows Biden losing double-digits compared to 2020 exit polls with one group mainstream pundits seem to believe Democrats will always win – young people. Voters between 18 and 24 are moving away from Biden by double-digits compared to 2020 and in one state Trump is on track to win Gen Z by 29-percenatge points after losing them by 12 points in 2020.

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Rick Scott Opponent Drops Out of Senate Race to Challenge Vulnerable GOP Congressman

A Democratic opponent of Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida in the state’s 2024 election has withdrawn from the race to challenge a Republican member of the House of Representatives, instead.

Phil Ehr, a U.S. Navy veteran and former Democratic candidate against Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida in 2020, announced Wednesday that he would run to challenge Republican Rep. Carlos Giménez of Florida. Ehr’s withdrawal makes former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Florida the favorite in a crowded field to win the primary, according to polling.

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Abe Hamadeh Launches Arizona House Campaign After Rep. Debbie Lesko Announces Retirement

Abe Hamadeh, the former Republican candidate for Arizona Attorney General, announced on Tuesday that he intends to run for U.S. House to represent Arizona’s 8th District following the news that Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) will not seek re-election in 2024.

“Our country is in desperate need of courageous fighters, and that’s why I’m proud to announce I’m running for Congress in Arizona’s 8th District,” wrote Hamadeh in a post on X, formerly Twitter. The candidate added that former President Donald Trump “is under attack” and “needs backup.” Hamadeh concluded, “I’m ready to help [Trump] Make America Great Again.”

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Election Integrity Issues for November Elections Begin with Absentee Ballots

As state and local elections are set to conclude on Election Day next month, election integrity issues have already begun with absentee ballots. 

Counties across the country have already run into problems with absentee ballots for local November elections, as Republicans such as former President Donald Trump and U.S. Senate candidate for Arizona, Kari Lake, have repeatedly criticized issues with absentee ballots. 

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Turning Point Action Executive Received Extra Maricopa County Ballots for Former Residents

Tyler Bowyer, an executive for conservative activist group Turning Point Action, revealed on Monday that he received two Maricopa County ballots for former residents of his home. He told The Arizona Sun Times the episode represented “horrible public policy” and “administration of our elections.”

Bowyer posted an image of four ballots to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday night, revealing that only two registered voters live at his address. Voters in Maricopa County, and much of Arizona, are required to use mail-in ballots for the November 7, 2023 elections.

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National Democrats Raise $200K for Final Weeks of Battle for Virginia’s General Assembly

The Washington-based Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), the Democratic Party’s political operation focused on state legislative races, announced Monday a new six-figure investment in Virginia’s off-cycle state house contests—part of the DLCC’s attempt to nationalize the Old Dominion hustings.

“Republican dysfunction has become a hallmark of national politics,” said DLCC Campaign Communications Director Abhi Rahman. “Their refusal to do the basic requirements of government, including choosing a speaker, shows us that this is all a game to them and they don’t care about the people they were elected to represent.

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Former Trump Attorney John Eastman Testifies in His Disbarment Trial that he Told Mike Pence Rejecting Electoral Slates Would be ‘Foolish’

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman entered its fifth and likely final week on Tuesday, featuring testimony from Eastman and Kari Lake’s attorney Kurt Olsen. The State Bar of California is attempting to disbar Eastman for allegedly advising Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that Pence could reject electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud, but Eastman disputed that characterization of his advice on Tuesday. 

Eastman said that Pence asked him during a meeting with Trump on January 4, 2020, if the vice president had the power to reject electoral votes. Eastman responded and said it was an open question that has never been resolved, but even if Pence had the power, it would be “foolish” to exercise it. Eastman advised Pence to consider having merely a brief delay in certification in order to allow the state legislatures to investigate whether there was illegal activity that affected the election.

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Back Off: Goochland CA Caudill Tells The Virginia Star He Won’t Kiss Sheriff’s Ring

The Republican Goochland County commonwealth’s attorney running for another four-year term told The Virginia Star his feud with Sheriff Steven N. Creasey has political significance but has not hindered his ability to prosecute crimes in the county.

The trouble started in the 2019 election, said D. Michael Caudill, who faces Creasey’s endorsed candidate, attorney John Lumpkins, in the general election.

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Donald Trump Takes a Commanding Lead in Third-Quarter Fundraising for 2024 Presidential Candidates

Third-quarter fundraising numbers released Sunday provide a glimpse into the strengths of the 2024 Republican presidential campaigns as the primary season is fast approaching.

Former President Donald Trump out-raised the entire GOP primary field, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) third-quarter filings. Trump also enters the year’s final fundraising quarter with the most cash on hand, with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott next in line, followed by DeSantis and Haley.

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Commentary: Troubling Ballot Chicanery in Virginia Elections Requires Immediate Action

In a chilling reminder that the integrity of our voting process is under constant attack, there is a serious violation of electoral law under way right now in the Elections Office of Fairfax County, Virginia. The Fairfax County Registrar, Eric Spicer, has allowed a candidate for school board to appear on the ballot although she failed to submit proper petitions with sufficient signatures.  Immediate action is required by the county Electoral Board to disqualify her.

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Trump Rallies in Iowa as Democrat-Appointed Federal Judge Slaps Gag Order on Biden’s No. 1 Political Enemy

Former President Donald Trump was back in the first caucus state Monday afternoon, still dominating in the polls and still spoiling for a fight.

“Crooked Joe Biden and his radical left Democrats … have weaponized law enforcement to arrest their leading political opponent, me,” Trump told hundreds of supporters at a rally in suburban Des Moines just 91 days before Iowa Republicans hold the first-in-the-nation 2024 presidential caucuses.

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New Poll Shows Trump Leads Biden in 5 of 6 Battleground States with RFK Jr. on the Ballot

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s declaration of independence from the Democratic Party is bad news for President Joe Biden’s prospects for a second term, according to a new poll by United Kingdom-based pollster Redfield & Wilton Strategies.

The poll of swing state voters, in partnership with The Telegraph, finds former President Donald Trump leading Biden in five of the six swing states.

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AZGOP Files Motion to Intervene to Stop 14th Amendment ‘Lawfare’ Lawsuit Seeking to Boot Trump from the Ballot

The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) filed a Motion to Intervene on Wednesday defending against a lawsuit that is attempting to keep Donald Trump off the ballot for president in Arizona. John Anthony Castro, a third-party presidential candidate, has been filing lawsuits in various states claiming Trump is not qualified due to the 14th Amendment. 

The 40-year-old Republican’s lawsuits against Trump state, “Section 3 of the 14th Amendment creates an implied cause of action for a fellow candidate to obtain relief for a political competitive injury by challenging another candidate’s constitutional eligibility on the grounds that they engaged in or provided ‘aid or comfort’ to an insurrection.” 

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Trump Leads Biden Wisconsin: Poll

Former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden in the crucial battleground state of Wisconsin following a series of similar findings in other key swing states, according to a Thursday poll.

Trump is beating Biden 42% to 40% among Wisconsin voters with 11% choosing someone else and 8% remaining undecided, according to an Emerson College survey. The poll comes after several other recent battleground state surveys found Trump ahead of Biden, including in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

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Virginia Gov. Youngkin Makes Closing Argument on Abortion with $1.4 Million Ad Buy

The Spirit of Virginia political action committee run by Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin kicked off a $1.4 million ad buy defending the Republican position on abortion—marking the first serious effort to counter Democrats by any Republican politician since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned both the 1973 Roe v. Wade and the 1992 Casey decisions the created the so-called right to an abortion.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch captured the reluctance of Republicans to mention abortion in its article about the ad.

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Federal Judge Denies Justice Department’s Latest Attempt to Block Georgia Voting Law

A federal judge denied a preliminary injunction request from President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice on Wednesday after the administration sought to stop enforcement of the 2021 Georgia voting law they claim discriminates against black voters.

United States District Judge J.P. Boulee ruled the Department of Justice is unlikely to prove any of its claims at trial, and denied the Biden administration’s request to pause portions of the law.

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Poll Shows Trump Beating Biden in Michigan

Former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden in the key battleground state of Michigan by 7 points, according to a poll reported by The Detroit News on Wednesday.

In the state that Trump won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020, he beat the president 42% to 35%, with 20% saying they’d vote for someone else and 3% opting not to pick a candidate, according to a Marketing Resource Group (MRG) survey. When the Democratic candidate was changed to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, she beat Trump 46% to 40% — a 13-point swing from the matchup with Biden.

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Former Iowa Democratic Party Chair Says Giving Up First Caucus Status Is a ‘Dark Day’ All Around

After signing the 1938 Munich Agreement that gave Nazi Germany the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia in exchange for Adolph Hitler’s promise that he had “no more territorial demands to make in Europe,” British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said the deal had secured “peace in our time.”

Dave Nagle says Chamberlain’s spirit of appeasement lives on in the leadership of the Iowa Democratic Party.

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Kari Lake to Enter Arizona Senate Race with Slight Lead over Gallego, Sinema: Poll

Former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake officially announced her campaign for Arizona Senate on Tuesday, having previously filed paperwork to run in early October. Though she has yet to secure the Republican Party’s nomination, polling released this week suggests she enters the race as the front runner against both Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) and incumbent Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).

In a three-way race, pollsters at Republican-leaning National Research Inc. reported on Tuesday that 37 percent of Arizonans will back Lake. Gallego polled in second, with 33 percent of support, while Sinema was supported by just 19 percent of respondents. Pollsters say 10 percent remained undecided.

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