Key national GOP group endorses Kari Lake for US Senate

U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake secured the endorsement of the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Tuesday in a snub to Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who remains in the race for the GOP.

The endorsement brings another measure of closure to a primary race usually treated as over before it began and could be a boost to Lake’s efforts to consolidate broader Republican backing.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who chairs the NRSC, praised Lake’s campaign in a statement.

“Kari Lake is one of the most talented candidates in the country,” he said. “Kari is building out an effective campaign operation that has what it takes to flip Arizona’s Senate seat in November.”

Lake called it a sign of success to come.

“I am honored to have the endorsement of Chairman Daines and the NRSC,” she said in a statement. “We are uniting Republicans in Arizona and have a clear path to victory. The Senate Majority runs through Arizona.”

While Lake claimed to unite Republicans, it overlooks the spectacle of her getting booed recently at the Arizona Republican Party annual meeting just days after she effectively toppled the party chair, Jeff DeWit, with the release of a secret recording from last year in which he relayed a message that people wanted her to stay out of the Senate race.

There is still no indication that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his well-heeled allies have plans to actively support Lake. McConnell has long made plain he views the GOP majority as hinging on wins in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana, not Arizona.

Long before Lake formally entered the race for the seat held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., she had discussed the run with the NRSC and political power brokers in Arizona and Washington.

Despite concerns about her viability following her narrow loss in the 2022 gubernatorial race, Lake secured the GOP’s most prized endorsement: former President Donald Trump, who announced his support for her in a video message on the night she entered the race.

Lamb entered the Senate race in April, but has posted several quarters of lackluster fundraising and never generated broad backing for his campaign.

Sinema has yet to formally say whether she plans to seek a second term. U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is the only prominent member of his party in the race.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake endorsed by National Republican Senatorial Committee