'This mama bear has a whole lot of fight in her': Kari Lake enters Arizona's Senate race

Kari Lake formally announced Tuesday her bid for the U.S. Senate, promising to seal the nation’s border with Mexico, rein in fentanyl abuse and pursue an America-first agenda linked to former President Donald Trump’s.

With hundreds on hand at Scottsdale’s Jetset Magazine, Lake, a Republican, began her long-expected bid for the seat currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.

From the outset of her remarks, Lake renewed her grievance-fueled rhetoric, accusing President Joe Biden of endangering America and hurling insults at Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Sinema, who has not officially said whether she intends to seek another six-year term.

Lake made no mention of Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is also seeking the GOP nomination.Her remarks were filled with dark and vaguely violent imagery of a nation at risk of collapse.

"Let me tell you, this mama bear has a whole lot of fight in her,” Lake said to cheers. “I’m really tired of watching our politicians retreat from every single important battle. … They have surrendered far too many hills. We are on the final hill right now, and I am not surrendering this hill.”

Lake’s announcement formalized a move she telegraphed months ago and begins a new political test for a polarizing candidate who is seen as a star to many in conservative circles and an election denier lacking policy seriousness to others.

Trump, the 2024 Republican front-runner for president, made a cameo appearance at her event with a videotaped message in which he offered “my complete and total endorsement” for Lake’s campaign on its first day.

"I need strong fighters like Kari,” Trump said.

It was a powerful opening play for Lake, who repeatedly mentioned Biden, Sinema and Gallego in her 45-minute speech, but not Lamb.

"These guys are just dead weight,” she said. Lake pointed to Biden’s recent visit to Tempe, saying “he stumbled off the plane,” called them a threat to democracy and never talked about the border.

“You, Joe, are a threat to America,” she said.

In his Tempe remarks, Biden warned of the threat posed by those who he characterized as "MAGA extremists."

Lake also hit Sinema and Gallego as Biden’s enablers and pawns of a “globalist” agenda.

"You know who their constituents are, right?” Lake said. “Military industrial complex, giant corporations, Big Pharma, big banks … globalist organizations. That’s who they’re for.”

"Arizona, you deserve a lot better than those two,” Lake said.

Lake rattled off worries that the kind of sneak attack on Israel could happen to America because the border is unprotected, and that inflation is a top problem.

She steps into a race that could become a rare three-way contest and with Republicans in Washington wary of her chances after narrowly losing the 2022 governor’s race. She lost that race in part because she drove off Republicans still supportive of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was elected to the Senate six times in the state.

Lake previewed her combative campaign style in a viral video of her confrontation last week with Gallego at Phoenix International Sky Harbor Airport. She hurled broadsides at Gallego over the border and fentanyl, while blaming him for enabling Biden’s agenda.

On Tuesday, Lake promised unwavering support for Israel after the weekend massacres led by the Islamist group Hamas.

Can she win? As Kari Lake enters Arizona's Senate race, one question tops all others

Lake emphasized that she opposes abortion rights, but on Tuesday did not specify her legislative limits.

During the governor’s race, Lake referred to Arizona’s territorial-era law banning nearly all abortions as “a great law on the books right now.” She also called for a Texas-style law that bans abortions at about six weeks, once a heartbeat is detectable.

Lake promised to make bringing water to the West a priority, along with protecting Social Security for America’s seniors.

Since entering politics in 2021, Lake has vaulted from a local TV newscaster to a prominent Trump surrogate who is a regular presence in national conservative media.

Her unflinching conservativism delivered with the polish of a TV professional quickly caught Trump’s attention, and he endorsed her candidacy early in the GOP primary.

But her penchant for echoing conspiracy theories, a series of gaffes that betrayed her policy inexperience and needlessly divisive rhetoric that drove off Republican moderates helped sink her gubernatorial campaign.

Her confrontations with reporters delighted her supporters, but also lent an angry tone to her politics that left others unimpressed.

After she fell just short of Democrat Katie Hobbs, Lake led a baseless legal and public relations blitz on election administration in Maricopa County. One of her lawsuits seeking to overturn the 2022 governor’s race remained unresolved even as Lake pivoted to running for the Senate.

On Tuesday, Lake renewed some of the scorched-earth style that defined her 2022 campaign, attacking the media, Democrats and again positioning herself as someone fighting for election integrity.

Lamb, Gallego and Sinema offered a range of reactions to Lake’s entry, from sounding alarms to silence.

Lamb’s campaign alluded to reports that Lake practically lived at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, with a written statement saying he “welcomes Kari Lake back to Arizona.” He also noted his electoral success, a jab at Lake’s loss last year.

“There is only one proven conservative winner that is running for the U.S. Senate, and that is me,” Lamb said. “I am a lifelong conservative who has dedicated my life to protecting Arizonans and keeping them safe when Democrat policies make that job almost impossible. I have been in Arizona fighting for the people that call this great state home. I’m not a talker, I’m a doer, and I win elections. That is what separates me from my opponents.”

Gallego earlier in the day discussed by phone the Hamas attacks on Israel with Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the United States. Gallego reacted to Lake's Senate announcement with a written statement issued while she was still speaking.

“Arizonans know exactly who Kari Lake is — and that’s why they rejected her the first time around," Gallego said. "While she runs her same, tired playbook of undermining our democracy and pushing to ban abortion, I’m focused on addressing the very real problems that impact Arizona families, like creating good-paying jobs, securing our water future, and taking care of our veterans.”

Confrontation: Kari Lake, Rep. Ruben Gallego trade barbs on social media, at Phoenix airport

In a fundraising text hours before Lake’s announcement, Gallego’s campaign called her the “MAGA Queen” and a threat to democracy.

Lake is “someone who has no problem lying, spreading misinformation – even calling for her supporters to commit violence on behalf of Donald Trump,” Gallego’s fundraising pitch said.

By contrast, Sinema kept a low profile, issuing no statements on the race. Instead, her office jointly announced with Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., $4.4 million in federal funding for water treatment facilities for Safford and La Paz County under the national infrastructure law Sinema helped broker.

Among those on hand for Lake's announcement were some of Arizona’s more prominent election deniers: state Sens. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale; and Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff; and Abe Hamadeh, the 2022 GOP nominee for attorney general and the man who introduced Lake to the crowd.

Their presence was a reminder of Lake's baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

National Republicans in Washington have made clear they want Lake to abandon what they view as a losing issue for the GOP.

Earlier this month, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told CNN: "I think one thing we've learned from 2022 is voters do not want to hear about grievances from the past."

Who is Kari Lake? What you need to know as Lake announces her bid for the Senate

People familiar with the NRSC’s dealings with Lake have told The Arizona Republic that the organization made that point to her team directly.

Lake's announcement drew several hundred spectators, though there was plenty of open room in the back of the open-air space.

Reach the reporter at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake to enter Arizona's U.S. Senate race after months of hinting