Kari Lake releases new ad criticizing Gallego for ‘radical’ border policies

EXCLUSIVE — Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake is launching a new attack ad against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), targeting her Democratic challenger over his voting record on the southern border and seeking to tie him to President Joe Biden.

In a new ad that debuted on Tuesday and was first shared with the Washington Examiner, Lake cast Gallego as a “radical” who “supports amnesty for millions of illegals,” underscoring the importance border security will have in the 2024 election cycle. The ad also seeks to link Gallego to Biden, who released a new executive order related to border security that has already garnered criticism from both sides of the aisle.

“[Gallego] opposed efforts to secure our borders,” the voiceover in the ad states. “Radical open border politicians are wrong. Save America. Vote change.”

The ad is part of a larger $10 million campaign that will air on TV, streaming, broadcast, and digital platforms.

The commercial comes just after Biden released an executive order that would shut down asylum requests at the southern border once the seven-day average of immigrants apprehended by Border Patrol agents between the ports of entry is above 2,500 arrests per day. The ban would be walked back once the average dropped to below 1,500 apprehensions daily for at least two weeks.

However, Republicans have criticized the plan as being too little, too late and accused the Biden administration of intentionally opening the border to cause a crisis. Now, several GOP candidates, including Lake, are hoping to tie their opponents to Biden’s unpopular policies ahead of the November election.

“Arizonans are being crushed by the invasion at our border. Our hospitals are going bankrupt, housing is unaffordable, wages are going down as inflation rises, and crime is rampant,” a spokesperson for Lake said. “Radical Ruben Gallego supports mass amnesty allowing illegals to vote, all while he refuses to secure our border. His open-border policies are to blame for the pain Arizonans are feeling.”

Gallego’s campaign pushed back against the ad, pointing to the Arizona Democrat’s voting record to crack down on fentanyl trafficking coming across the border as well as securing funds to go toward border cities in the state. Gallego also pointed to his support for the border deal that was proposed in the Senate last year but tanked after former President Donald Trump came out against it.

Instead, the Gallego campaign accused Lake of misconstruing his voting record on the border, citing other ads that have been deemed “misleading” and “deceitful” by some fact-checking organizations.

“Kari Lake is a power-hungry liar who will do or say anything to gain power – even join national Republicans in launching desperate, false attacks on Ruben’s record,” Hannah Goss, a spokeswoman for Gallego’s campaign, said. “Ruben is laser-focused on bringing people together to address the border crisis  — even when it means pushing back on his own party to stand up for Arizonans — which is exactly why he will defeat Kari Lake this November.”

The latest ad comes as the race between Lake and Gallego has shaped up to be one of the most competitive Senate elections in the 2024 cycle and could determine which party wins control of the upper chamber next year.

Polling shows a tight contest between the two, but the most recent surveys indicate Gallego has an edge over Lake in the critical swing state. Gallego currently leads Lake 45% to 41%, according to the most recent survey by the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Siena College.

Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifted the race last month from being deemed a toss-up to leaning Democratic, giving Gallego a slight edge over Lake. That shift came after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a near-total abortion ban in the state, prompting pushback from even some Republicans, including Lake and Trump.

However, Lake’s allies have pointed to Trump’s polling in Arizona against Biden as a good sign for her campaign. Lake has closely aligned herself with the former president, who leads Biden 49% to 42% in the swing state, according to the poll.

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There are 34 Senate seats up for grabs in the 2024 election cycle. Of these, Democrats must defend 23, compared to just 11 for Republicans — and nearly all competitive seats are held by Democrats, putting them on the defensive as they try to maintain their slim majority.

Democrats hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, with the advantage of having Vice President Kamala Harris as a tiebreaker vote if needed. As a result, Republicans only need to flip one Senate seat to win the majority should they win back the White House in 2024. If they don’t regain the Oval Office, they need to secure two extra Senate seats.