Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego spar about debate host for key Senate contest

Arizona’s Senate candidates, news anchor-turned-Republican politician Kari Lake and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), have conflicting ideas about how a debate should be run. 

The Citizens Clean Elections Commission is the typical host of political debates in Arizona, but Lake has expressed some skepticism about taking that route. Gallego told NBC News that he is prepared for a debate hosted by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

“I think we should talk about which debate we do,” Lake said last week. “I think our two teams can discuss a fair place, a fair platform to do that.”

When Lake ran for governor of Arizona in 2022, her opponent, now-Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ), refused to debate Lake, claiming Lake “has shown that she’s not interested in any kind of substantive conversation, she’s only interested in creating a spectacle.” 

Hobbs ended up participating in a 30-minute question-and-answer session on Arizona PBS, which upset the commission. Now, Lake is resentful toward the commission despite it not being involved with the PBS Q&A, citing “how they treated people in the last election cycle, back in ’22, where people who decided not to do the debate, namely Hobbs, ended up getting her own half an hour.”

“I don’t want to work with people who are, you know, operating that way,” she said. 

“The Lake campaign is mistaken about the facts from 2022,” Executive Director of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission Thomas Collins said in a statement.

“Clean Elections did not sponsor any debate or interview with then-Secretary Hobbs (now Governor Hobbs) in 2022,” he said, adding, “We look forward to hosting the U.S. Senate debate between Mrs. Lake and Mr. Gallego with our partners.” 

This election cycle, Lake refused to debate her opponent, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, as the two raced for the Republican nomination in Arizona’s primary election.

“Traditionally, for the last, I think, three Senate races, every Senate debate has happened at the Clean Elections debate,” Gallego said last week. “So I don’t understand why Kari Lake is afraid of even-grounded debate.”

“Traditionally, you also concede after you lose an election. You don’t wait until two years later and file to overturn the election. But I guess now she’s comfortable and wants to get rid of another tradition,” Gallego said. 

He said he would not back out of the debate like Hobbs. When Hobbs backed out, Lake was given the opportunity to use the scheduled debate as a town hall. 

“The consideration is that we need to talk to the voters of Arizona, and I trust the voters of Arizona that they’re going to listen to both sides,” Gallego said.