In 2022, Kari Lake ran for governor in Arizona as a hard-charging conservative outsider who was quick to turn on the GOP establishment — and at the time, her campaign was one national Republicans kept at arm’s length, worried about her electability in the battleground state.
That has changed two years later, as the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm endorsed Lake’s candidacy on Tuesday, a major boost that comes with legitimacy and potentially lots of cash and resources.
“Kari Lake is one of the most talented candidates in the country,” said Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee . “Kari is building out an effective campaign operation that has what it takes to flip Arizona’s Senate seat in November.”
For over a year, Lake has been silently courting the Senate GOP establishment in Washington, making her way to the Capitol to meet with lawmakers and high-ranking officials. Lake and Daines began communicating regularly after he took the helm at the NRSC in November 2022, and the two have developed a good rapport, according to a source familiar with the matter.