Gallego nearly doubles Lake's Q1 fundraising in Arizona Senate bid

Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego brought in nearly double the fundraising haul of Kari Lake, his likely Republican opponent in the state's Senate race, over the first quarter.

The Arizona contest is expected to be one of the most competitive in the 2024 election cycle and a sizeable war chest could prove pivotal. Lake and Gallego are vying for the seat of retiring independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who first won election as a Democrat but later left the party. She announced she would not seek reelection in March.

Gallego brought in $7.5 million to support his bid over the first few months of 2024, finishing the period with $9.6 million in cash on hand, according to The Hill. By contrast, Lake, brought in $4.1 million on the same period and had only $2.5 million in cash on hand. Such a development, however, marked a near-doubling of her resources over a single quarter, as she closed Q4 of 2023 with a $2.1 million haul and $1.1 million in cash on hand.

"Kari Lake doubled her fundraising haul from last quarter," the campaign said in a statement. "She is seeing strong from grassroots donors and Arizona donors. Gallego is Far-Left, and out of step with Arizonans. Just like President Trump, Kari is preforming [sic] strong in Arizona and will win in November."

Recent survey data has shown a close race, with 44% choosing Gallego in a March Emerson College/The Hill survey while 40% backed Lake. When undecided voters were forced to choose, the gap narrowed to 51% to 49% in Gallego's favor.

Earlier in the year, a January survey from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling showed Lake with 46% to Gallego's 45% in a head-to-head matchup.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.