Ruben Gallego continues to lead Kari Lake in U.S. Senate race • Arizona Mirror

“We are closely monitoring the results as they emerge and we feel very optimistic,” Gallego said. published on social network Xformer Twitter, early Wednesday morning. “This team has worked tirelessly to connect with Arizonans across the state, and I am proud of the campaign we ran. While we wait for the final vote count, I want to thank everyone who came, volunteered and supported us.”

Gallego, a former U.S. Marine who has represented the state’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2015, has waged a bitter battle against Lake in the run-up to the election, marked by personal barbs and accusations of extremism on both sides.

Gallego advocated for making life more affordable for the middle and working class, ensuring abortion rights and achieving incremental improvements in border security, including a larger workforce and better use of technology.

Gallego has gained support from some moderate republicans who said they couldn’t support Lake and her caustic style, including Mesa Mayor John Giles and former staffers of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain.

Lake toe the MAGA line during her campaign, calling for the completion of Trump’s border wall, mass deportation of illegal immigrants and an extension of Trump’s tax cuts.

Lake sought to align Gallego with Democratic President Joe Biden and what she called his “open borders,” while Gallego reminded voters that Lake sharply softened her position on abortion last year.

Lake and her campaign on Wednesday urged her supporters to make sure they correct any problems with signatures on ballot envelopes or provisional ballots to ensure their votes are counted.

Even though Lake trailed in the polls throughout the Senate race, some of her fans dismissed the idea that presumptive President-elect Trump had 117,316 more votes than her in Arizona.

“I don’t buy it,” Josh Barnett, far-right conspiracy theorist and election denier, published on X. “I told our state legislature what would happen if we did not have a properly and legally conducted election.”

He did not give any specific reasons for suspicions of election fraud.

Even when she was running for Senate, Lake continued unsuccessfully challenge results of the gubernatorial race in court, and two years later she still hasn’t conceded the race. She also faces the prospect of paying damage not yet determined to Maricopa County Recorder Steven Richer after she legally admitted guilt in his defamation suit regarding Lake’s false claims that Richer helped rig the 2022 gubernatorial race against her.