U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), acknowledged on Wednesday his party will lose its narrow majority in the U.S. Senate if former newswoman Kari Lake should beat Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) in the race to replace Senator Kyrsten Sinema this November.
Peters made the remarks to Cronkite News, which reported the chief Democratic strategist for the Senate revealed his party “can’t keep control of the U.S. Senate” without electing Gallego.
“We don’t hold the majority if we lose Arizona,” Peters told Cronkite News on Wednesday, before describing the Grand Canyon State as “essential” for Democrats.
Democrats hope Gallego will successfully replace Sinema, who formally left the Democratic Party last year to register as an independent, but nonetheless continues to caucus with Democrats and used a Democratic fundraising platform prior to declaring she will leave Congress.
Polls released last month suggest the race between Gallego and Lake could be tightening. Though the RealClearPolling average shows Gallego leading by over 7 points, one survey recently released by CNN showed the Democrat ahead by only 3 percent.
Lake’s campaign may have reason to believe the race is even closer, as an internal poll released in August showed her and Gallego tied, with each supported by 46 percent of Arizonans.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) seems to agree, as a spokesman told Cronkite News in response to Peters’ admission about Gallego, “Arizona remains one of the top pick-up opportunities for Republicans this cycle.”
Since securing the Democratic Party’s nomination, Gallego has been accused of moderating his political positions, as well as curtailing his frequent use of profanity, in a bid to reach voters who could be turned off by his progressive views or past statements ordering his political opponents to “go f*** yourself,” or referring to them as a “racist piece of s****.”
Gallego “is doing everything he can to bury his radical record of support for giving voting rights to the millions of illegal immigrants entering the United States,” the NRSC said last year, before later accusing the Democrat of consistently supporting ““the far left’s most radical, open border policies” during his time in the U.S. House.
The Democrat recently bragged to Arizonans about securing federal funding for border communities, but The Arizona Sun Times reported $7.5 million is going to a Yuma nonprofit that helps illegal immigrants transition to life in the United States.
The Sun Times additionally reported the nonprofit announced President Joe Biden honored its president with an advisory role just one day after Gallego secured the funding, and that the nonprofit spends a significant part of its budget on executive pay and bus transportation, ostensibly for the illegal immigrants it serves.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gary Peters” by Sen. Gary Peters, “Rep Ruben Gallego” by Rep Ruben Gallego, and “Kari Lake” by Kari Lake.
