The political action committee associated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has reportedly ignored the Kari Lake campaign for the U.S. Senate, with not one dollar going to the contentious Arizona race, even as high-profile senators voiced their early support for the Trump-aligned Republican.
McConnell’s lack of interest in Lake’s race was reported first by Axios on Monday, when it reported, “McConnell PAC snubs Lake,” and revealed the influential Senate Leadership Fund “has not reserved a single dollar to help” Lake during “the final weeks of the campaign.”
The outlet noted McConnell’s lack of interest in Lake’s race comes despite the Senate Leadership Fund spending $42 million to bolster Republican candidates in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) continues to lead Lake in the RealClearPolling aggregate of surveys, with the outlet showing the Democrat leading by 6 percent. That polling does not include two surveys, taken after Gallego and Lake debated, that suggested the race may be narrowing ahead of Election Day.
Despite the reported lack of support from McConnell or the committee associated with him, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has run ads about the Arizona race for Senate since last November, when it first labeled Gallego a “deadbeat dad” over his 2016 separation and subsequent divorce from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, who was then pregnant with their unborn child.
Similarly, while McConnell is reportedly uninterested in helping Lake, other established Republican senators argued in her favor. These include Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who reportedly stood in an October 2023 NRSC meeting and argued the committee should support Lake’s candidacy.
Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), who chairs the NRSC, endorsed Lake in February when he called Lake “one of the most talented candidates in the country.”
Daines previously said he was unaware of a payoff scheme involving Lake and influential interests “Back East” after Lake released audio that revealed former Arizona Republican Party Chair Jeff DeWit extended an offer for the former newswoman to receive a job in conservative news in exchange for backing off her plans to run for Senate.
McConnell acknowledged his February commitment to step down from leadership earlier this week, stating he will be “[f]ree at last” during his comments at a private forum held by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, according to The Louisville Courier Journal.
The outgoing leader indicated to the audience he intends to finish his term, which concludes in 2027, saying he is “actually looking forward the next couple of years.”
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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 “Mitch McConnell” by Mitch McConnell. Photo “Kari Lake” by Kari Lake.
