亚利桑那州的选民星期二前往投票站投票，这是自1998年以来的第一次国会和初选乔·拜登总统退出了总统竞选和前总统唐纳德·特朗普正式成为共和党总统候选人.
这美联社预测卡莉·莱克将赢得亚利桑那州的共和党参议员初选。
截至晚上11点46分，预计投票率为66%，莱克以53.3%的选票领先。马克·兰姆有40.6%。
莱克将在大选中面对美国众议员鲁本·加莱戈，他在民主党初选中没有对手，这场比赛肯定会在这个战场州受到密切关注。无论谁获胜，都将占据即将退休的独立参议员Kyrsten Sinema目前拥有的席位。
“谢谢你对我的信任，亚利桑那。我不会让你失望的。我们要一起拯救这个州。我们将一起#MakeArizonaGrandAgain，”莱克在x上的一篇帖子中写道。
在周二晚上的一份声明中，Gallego写道，“从现在起到11月，我欢迎所有亚利桑那州人-民主党人，共和党人和无党派人士-加入我们的团队，帮助击败Kari Lake和她禁止堕胎和伤害亚利桑那州人的危险计划。”
当Sinema在3月份宣布她不会寻求连任时，她在共和党人Lake和民主党众议员Ruben Gallego之间建立了一个可能的比赛来取代她。
在共和党初选中，莱克面对一些主要对手最著名的是皮纳尔县治安官马克·兰姆。
莱克是前当地新闻主播，她因直言不讳地支持特朗普关于选民欺诈的虚假指控而闻名。她的参议员竞选活动是在她在2022年以微弱优势输给民主党人凯蒂·霍布斯竞选州长之后进行的，之后她拒绝接受竞选结果。
随着她在2024年竞选公职，莱克明显软化了她对邮寄投票的立场，特朗普在2020年总统选举失败后对此进行了攻击。
在三月份的讲话中，莱克鼓励亚利桑那州人投票，“无论是通过邮件，还是亲自投票。”她补充道，“我们不能举手说这个系统不起作用。当然不会。但我们需要走出去，让更多的人投票。”
然而，莱克在演讲后对一小群记者说:“我想回到选举日，而不是选举月，我们在选举日统计选票，晚上知道结果，但我们现在不在那个世界。”
兰姆也有过去提出过问题关于2020年选举的结果，但是说他没有发现欺诈的证据。他在边界问题上进行竞选，并获得了一些筹款支持，但在初选中难以突破。
更多:卡莉·莱克瞄准了可能与鲁本·加莱戈进行的参议员竞选，坚持说，“我什么都没变”
莱克还面临着亚利桑那州共和党内部的恐慌。前亚利桑那州共和党主席杰夫·德维特在一月份辞职，此前一段录音被泄露，据报道其中包含他要求莱克说出一个能让她远离政治的价格。德维特说，这段录音是“有选择地编辑过的”
最近，《华盛顿邮报》报道称，该州一名主要共和党捐款人写道，莱克“无法赢得大选”。
在民主党方面，加莱戈是唯一的候选人跑向座位.
亚利桑那州第八国会选区的共和党初选
在亚利桑那州第八国会选区，取代共和党众议员黛比·莱斯科(Debbie Lesko)的竞争变得异常激烈，莱斯科在10月份宣布她不会竞选连任。截至美国东部时间周三午夜，美联社尚未对这场竞选做出预测。
马斯特斯是风险投资家彼得·泰尔的门生，此前在亚利桑那州参议院席位的竞争中被民主党现任参议员马克·凯利击败，与竞选亚利桑那州司法部长的哈马德对决，仅以280票之差落败。初选的获胜者很可能会在高度共和党化的地区大选中赢得席位。
这场比赛充满了人身攻击。美国原则项目，一个超级政治行动委员会支持的马斯特，冉阿让广告关于哈马德针对他的穆斯林信仰，称哈马德是“恐怖分子的同情者”，并声称他说过“美国是建立在伊斯兰原则上的，而不是使美国伟大的犹太-基督教价值观。”
在一个建立网站分享反对派的研究马斯特斯的竞选团队分享了他们声称是由哈马德发布的一篇文章，作者在文章中通过提到穆斯林在美国法律图像中的影响来反对对穆斯林的妖魔化。A回顾到了2005年，凤凰新时代支持马斯特斯的建议，认为哈马德应该对这个账户负责.
马斯特斯也发布了文本他在2023年1月与哈马德分享了他的选举结果，当时哈马德正在争夺他的选举结果。在这些消息中，哈马德嘲笑一些质疑选举诚信的人，说他很高兴自己没有“与选举材料中的疯子混在一起……但疯子们喜欢[我]，因为他们看到我在战斗。”
在给亚利桑那州的声明中哈马德的发言人埃里卡·奈特称这些攻击是“超越了苍白的谎言和恶毒的谎言”
哈马德也进行了攻击毫无根据的声称马斯特斯在斯坦福大学时“生活在一个裸体素食主义者的社区中”，“在女子大学篮球队打球”，并称他为左派。
Masters的发言人Ryan Girdusky对袭击事件做出了回应，他说亚利桑那共和国哈马德正在“向选民讲述布莱克的话，或者关于布莱克的旧话，或者布莱克的不真实的生活经历。”
一些额外的阴谋来自共和党总统候选人的支持。尽管特朗普在2022年支持大师赛，但在比赛的大部分时间里，特朗普只支持了哈马德，这是哈马德的竞选活动的一个事实兜售。特朗普的副总统候选人、俄亥俄州参议员JD Vance，赞同十月大师赛。
但在周日的一次令人震惊的转折中，特朗普增加了一个背书对于大师来说。
众议员特伦特·弗兰克斯，州众议院议长·本·托马和州参议员安东尼·克恩也跑了为了座位。
GOP's Kari Lake and Democrat Ruben Gallego to face off in Senate race based on Arizona primary projections
Voters in Arizona went to the polls Tuesday, in the first congressional and down-ballot primaries sincePresident Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential raceandformer President Donald Trump officially became the Republican presidential nominee.
TheAssociated Presshas projected that Kari Lake will win the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Arizona.
With 66% of the expected vote reporting as of 11:46 PM, Lake leads with 53.3% of the vote. Mark Lamb has 40.6%.
Lake goes on to face U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the general election – in a race certain to be closely watched in the battleground state. Whoever wins will take the seat currently held by retiring independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
"Thank you for putting your faith in me, Arizona. I won't let you down. Together, we're going to save this state. Together, we're going to #MakeArizonaGrandAgain," Lake wrote in a post on X.
In a statement on Tuesday night, Gallego wrote, "From now until November, I welcome all Arizonans — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike — to join our team and help defeat Kari Lake and her dangerous plan to ban abortion and hurt Arizonans."
When Sinema announced in March that she would not seek reelection, she set up a likely matchup to replace her between Republican Lake and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego.
In the Republican primary, Lakefaced a few primary opponents, most notably Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.
Lake, a former local news anchor, has become known in part for her outspoken support of Trump's false claims of voter fraud. Her Senate campaign comes after she narrowly lost her bid for governor to Democrat Katie Hobbs in 2022, after which she refused to accept the results of the race.
As she campaigned for office in 2024, Lake noticeably softened her stance on mail-in voting, which Trump attacked after he lost the 2020 presidential election.
Speaking in March, Lake encouraged Arizonans to vote "whether that's by mail, whether you vote in person." She added, "We can't throw our hands up and say the system doesn't work. Of course it doesn't. But we need to get out and get more people to vote."
However, speaking to a small group of reporters after her speech, Lake said: "I'd like to get back to Election Day, not election month, where we count the votes on Election Day and we know the results at night, but we're not in that world right now."
Lamb has alsoraised questions in the pastabout the results of the 2020 election, butsaid he found no evidence of fraud. He campaigned on border issues and had some fundraising support, but struggled to break through in the primary.
MORE: Kari Lake zeroes in on likely Senate race with Ruben Gallego, insisting, 'Nothing's changed in me'
Lake has also faced consternation within the Arizona Republican Party. Now-former Arizona Republican Party Chair Jeff DeWit resigned in January after an audio recording was leaked that reportedly contained him asking Lake toname a price that would keep her out of politics. DeWit said the recording was "selectively edited."
More recently,the Washington Postreported that a major Republican donor in the state wrote that Lake "cannot win the general election."
On the Democratic side, Gallego was the only candidaterunning for the seat.
Republican primary in Arizona's 8th congressional district
In Arizona's 8th congressional district, the race to replace Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko, who announced in October that she will not run for reelection, became exceptionally contentious. As of midnight Eastern on Wednesday, the Associated Press had not yet made a projection in the race.
Masters, a protégé of venture capitalist Peter Thiel who was previously defeated by Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly in the race for one of Arizona's senate seats, faced off against Hamadeh, who ran for Arizona attorney general and lost by just 280 votes. The primary's winner is likely to win the seat in the highly Republican district's general election.
The race has been filled with personal attacks. American Principles Project, a Super PACsupportingMasters, ran anadvertisementabout Hamadeh targeting his Muslim faith, calling Hamadeh a "terrorist sympathizer" and claims that he has said that "America was founded on Islamic principles, not the Judeo-Christian values that made America great."
In awebsite constructed to share opposition research, Masters' campaign shared what they claim to be a post by Hamadeh, in which the author argues against the demonization of Muslims by referring to the presence of Muslim influence in American iconography in law. Areviewby the Phoenix New Times supported Masters' suggestion that Hamadeh was responsible for the account.
Masters also releasedtextshe shared with Hamadeh in January 2023 while Hamadeh was contesting the results of his election. In the messages, Hamadeh derides some who question election integrity, saying he was glad he wasn't "lumped in with crazies with election stuff … but the crazies love [me] because they see me fighting."
In statements to the Arizona Republic, Hamadeh's spokesperson Erica Knight called the attacks on "falsehoods and vicious lies that go beyond the pale."
Hamadeh has also gone on the attack, makingunfounded claims thatthat Masters "lived in a nudist vegan commune" and "played on the women's college basketball team" while at Stanford University and calling him a leftist.
Ryan Girdusky, a spokesperson for Masters responded to the attacks, saying to theArizona Republicthat Hamadeh is "narrating to voters quotes from Blake, or old quotes about Blake, or life experiences from Blake that are not true."
Some additional intrigue has come from endorsements by the Republican ticket for president. Though Trump endorsed Masters in 2022, for much of the race, Trump had only endorsed Hamadeh in the race, a fact that Hamadeh's campaigntouted. Trump's vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance,endorsedMasters in October.
But in a shock twist on Sunday, Trumpadded an endorsementfor Masters.
Rep. Trent Franks, State House Speaker Ben Toma and State Sen. Anthony Kern arealso ranfor the seat.
