Kari Lake vs. Ruben Gallego: Fierce exchange over a number of issues, including losing the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election
Kari Lake vs. Ruben Gallego: In what is anticipated to be their only in-person debate of the campaign, Arizona Senate challenger Kari Lake and Democratic House Representative Ruben Gallego engaged in a series of heated exchanges on Wednesday.
During the event hosted by the nonpartisan Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, the two traded scathing jabs on a variety of topics, such as abortion, U.S. funding to Ukraine, and whether Republican Lake had lost the 2022 Arizona governor race.
Lake and Gallego are running for the Senate seat held by independent Kyrsten Sinema, who was elected as a Democrat but is still affiliated with her former party for committee work. Sinema has held the position since 2019.
Currently, there are 49 Republicans and 51 Democrats in the Senate. The GOP is attempting to regain control of the upper house after a poor showing in the 2022 midterm elections. Sinema is not running for reelection, and it is anticipated that the race for her seat will be a major factor in deciding which party would hold the majority in the Senate starting in January 2025.
Recent polls from Redfield & Wilton Strategies and RMG Research place Gallego ahead by six and ten points, respectively, in the race for president of Arizona. Meanwhile, both polls place Donald Trump just ahead of Kamala Harris by one and four points, respectively.
“Tonight’s debate was a clear victory for Kari Lake,” a representative for the Lake campaign said in an interview with a media report on the debate on Wednesday. Kari was successful in exposing Gallego’s extreme record in Congress spanning ten years and outlining her strategy to address the problems he has brought about. Ruben Gallego was unable to justify his record or his inconsistent stance on the matters. Kari Lake, the incoming senator from Arizona, has our utmost admiration.”
Here are five salient points from the discussion:
2022 Election for Governor
The Republican candidate’s persistent claims that she was the rightful winner of the 2022 Arizona governor election—which she lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs—caused a rift between Gallego and Lake. Lake filed several lawsuits in an attempt to have the 2022 election thrown out, but the court dismissed them.
Gallego turned to Lake during the debate on Wednesday and said, “She’s still in denial about the 2022 election.” Will you firmly inform the people of Arizona whether you won or lost the election in the minute I have given you?
Ruben Gallego is DEMOLISHING Kari Lake at this debate:
“She is in denial about the 2022 election. I’ll give you one minute. Will you finally tell the people of Arizona did you win or lose that election?”
I sooo want him to win by double digits.
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) October 10, 2024
Lake chose to speak on Arizona’s water availability rather than directly respond to the issue.
Abortion
Gallego took aim at Lake about abortion, pointing out that she had previously praised an almost complete ban on abortion in Arizona in the 1860s and that she supported the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
He spoke these words: “This is a guy who, not even two years ago, claimed that the 1864 territorial legislation, which stipulated that providing abortions was a two-year punishment with no exceptions for rape or incest, was a magnificent law. She expressed her happiness at Roe’s overthrow.
Kari Lake called abortion the “ultimate sin.” She called Arizona’s near-total abortion ban without exceptions a “great law.” She wanted sheriffs to enforce it.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them. pic.twitter.com/UJSsAnJUZb
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) October 10, 2024
Lake retaliated, saying that she “will not support a federal ban on abortion.” She had declared in September that she would “not support a federal ban on abortion,” but she couldn’t afford to live because of votes cast by individuals like Ruben Gallego, who have caused our economy to all but collapse. It is now on life support. Thus, my goal is to pass the most pro-family legislation in the U.S. Senate.”
Ukraine
Lake said that Gallego had “sold us out to Ukraine” after the House voted in favor of giving the beleaguered country another $60 million in military assistance. Russia invaded the country on a large scale in February 2022.
“Ruben Gallego voted to send another $60 billion to Ukraine, and he sashayed around the Congress floor waving a Ukrainian flag,” the woman said.
WATCH: Kari Lake just CRUSHED Ruben Gallego on the fact that he voted to wire hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine while Arizonans SUFFER
"He sold us out to Ukraine. He spent $260 billion. He voted for every penny of that."
This is a fiery debate performance from Kari pic.twitter.com/rfWYooP89W
— George (@BehizyTweets) October 10, 2024
“I would want to know whether any veterans have ever imagined themselves standing somewhere on the floor of Congress and raising the flag of another nation. He sold us off, to Ukraine, specifically.”
‘UVF’ is how Lake refers to IVF
Although Lake called in vitro fertilization (IVF) therapy “UVF” three times, she showed great support for it.
Someone needs to tell Kari Lake it's actually "IVF" and not "UVF."
She would know that if she actually supported IVF. #AZSen pic.twitter.com/sVJPKcFWp4
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) October 10, 2024
“I want to make sure UVF is protected,” she said. My friendships with many of my friends who are here today are a result of UVF, as are many of my friends who have had children and have shared in the joys of parenting and motherhood.”
Immigration
Gallego’s remarks from 2017, in which he called Trump’s planned border wall “stupid” and instead connected him to the administration’s immigration policies, drew criticism from Lake.
She stated: “We need somebody who understands the threat on the border, and I do, and President Trump does, and on day one we’re going to get busy undoing the damage caused by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Ruben Gallego, who’s voted with them 100 percent of the time.”
Gallego questioned Lake many times about her support for deporting “Dreamers,” or illegal immigrants who entered the country as minors. Each time, she said “no.”
“President Trump wanted to make a deal when it came to Dreamers,” Lake said. You declined.
Regretfully, my opponent and the extreme Democrats would prefer to use individuals as political pawns. My goal is to fortify the border.”
