跟随Kyrsten Sinema参议员的亚利桑那州共和党人卡莉·莱克(Kari Lake)宣布她不会寻求连任，在周三晚上在华盛顿举行的一场由17名共和党参议员参加的筹款活动之前，她获得了参议院少数党党鞭、参议院共和党二号人物约翰·图恩(John Thune)的支持。
莱克在给美国广播公司新闻频道的一份声明中说:“感谢图恩参议员的支持。“他努力确认特朗普总统的法官并通过他的议程。当我们赢得亚利桑那州并确保参议院多数席位时，我期待着这样做。”
莱克现在已经获得了参议院共和党领袖会议六分之四的支持，因为她试图支撑她因贬低已故共和党参议员而失去的信誉。约翰·麦凯恩在她输掉州长竞选期间，她说这场竞选被“窃取”了，这一说法在法庭上一再失败。她也是2020年的选举否认者，反复声称，像前总统唐纳德·特朗普总统选举被操纵。
图恩在通过莱克阵营与美国广播公司新闻分享的一份声明中称，随着共和党人试图赢回参议院，她的竞选“至关重要”。
“亚利桑那州的参议员竞选对于确保共和党在参议院的多数席位至关重要。这位南达科他州参议员说:“卡莉·莱克是亚利桑那州的候选人，她将努力使经济重回正轨，降低家庭生活成本，保障边境安全，执行法律，为我们的街道带来安全。”“投票给她的对手就是投票给(总统)乔·拜登的危险议程。我很高兴支持卡莉·莱克竞选亚利桑那州参议员。”
随着图恩对莱克的支持，这位南达科他州参议员似乎正在向特朗普靠拢，他过去一直批评特朗普。
2020年，图恩反对前总统将2020年总统选举非法化的努力。图恩特别表示，这些尝试将“像一条中弹的狗一样倒下”。最近，图恩投票支持两党国家安全补充法案，尽管特朗普施加了拒绝该法案的压力。
但是上周，图恩在宣布前一周支持了前总统他自己竞选接替即将离任的少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔。
“上次他担任总统时，我与他密切合作。你知道，我是参议院财政委员会关于减税和就业法案的关键谈判人员之一，”图恩2月29日说。“我想说，当我在他的政府下担任首席法官时，我们通过了150名法官，所以是的-我们有成就的记录，为美国人民做事的记录。”
莱克还赢得了参议员约翰·科宁的支持，他将与图恩竞争共和党领袖。
她仍然缺乏麦康奈尔和西弗吉尼亚州参议员谢莉·摩尔·卡皮托的支持，后者是参议院共和党会议副主席。
2022年10月，莱克在亚利桑那州皇后溪的一次集会上说:“坦率地说，我们需要让那个老蝙蝠米奇·麦康奈尔出局。“他们称他为参议院多数党领袖。我看不到他有任何领导力。”
Sen. John Thune endorses Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake
FollowingSen. Kyrsten Sinema's, I-Ariz., announcement that she won't seek reelection, Arizona Republican Kari Lake picked up the endorsement of Senate Minority Whip John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, ahead of a fundraiser she hosted Wednesday night in Washington featuring 17 Republican senators.
"Thank you to Senator Thune for the endorsement," Lake said in a statement to ABC News. "He worked to confirm President Trump's judges and pass his agenda. I am looking forward to doing that when we win Arizona and secure the Senate majority."
Lake has now secured four out of six endorsements from the Senate Republican Leadership Conference as she seeks to shore up credibility she lost disparaging the late GOP Sen.John McCainduring her losing gubernatorial run, a race she says was "stolen," a claim that failed repeatedly in court. She is also a 2020election-denier, repeatedly claiming, like former PresidentDonald Trump, that the presidential election was rigged.
Thune, in a statement shared with ABC News via Lake's camp, called her race "critical" as Republicans seek to win back the Senate.
"The Senate race in Arizona is critical for securing a Republican majority in the Senate. Kari Lake is the candidate in Arizona who will work to get the economy back on track and lower the cost of living for families, secure the border and enforce the law and bring safety to our streets," said the South Dakota senator. "A vote for her opponent is a vote for (President) Joe Biden's dangerous agenda. I am excited to endorse Kari Lake for Senate in Arizona."
With Thune's endorsement of Lake, the South Dakota senator appears to be aligning himself closer to Trump, whom he's criticized in the past.
In 2020, Thune was against the former president's efforts to delegitimize the 2020 presidential election. Thune notably said those attempts would go "down like a shot dog." More recently, Thune voted in favor of the bipartisan national security supplemental despite pressure from Trump to reject it.
But last week, Thune endorsed the former president -- a week before announcinghis own run to replace outgoing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the top spot.
"I worked closely with him when he was president last time. You know, I was one of the key negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee on the tax cuts and Jobs Act," Thune said on Feb. 29. "We put through, I want to say, 150 judges when I was the whip on the floor under his administration, and so yeah -- we've got a record of accomplishment, of getting things done for the American people."
Lake has also won the backing of Sen. John Cornyn, who will run against Thune to be GOP leader.
She still lacks the support of McConnell and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, vice-chair of the Senate Republican Conference.
"Frankly, we need to get that old bat Mitch McConnell out," Lake said October 2022, at a rally in Queen Creek, Arizona. "They call him Senate Majority Leader. I don't see any leadership coming from him."
