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Has been updated: April 11, 2023 12:17 PM
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb (Facebook Photo/ Pinal County Sheriff’s Office)
PHOENIX (AP) — Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb on Tuesday became the first Republican to join the high-profile campaign for the seat currently held by independent Senator Kirsten Cinema, running for U.S. Senate in Arizona. said he was a member.
A staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump and an advocate for cracking down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking, Lamb, who has made a name for himself in Arizona and beyond, said in a video announcing his candidacy to take on the drug cartels. pledged to the military to “wipe them out the same way we did to ISIS”, calling for U.S. assistance.
The Arizona race is a prime target for Republicans seeking control of the Senate, which is controlled 51-49 by Democrats, and includes Cinema and two other independents who generally vote Democratic. The 2024 Senate map is heavily in favor of Republicans, with Democrats winning seats in three states Trump won.
Cinema, who left the Democratic Party in December after his relationship with many members of the party fell apart, is raising money for a possible re-election campaign but has not disclosed whether he will seek a second term. U.S. Congressman Ruben Gallego is the only Democrat in the race. He said last week that he had raised his $3.7 million in the first quarter.
Fast-growing Pinal County is sandwiched between the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas. That small farming and mining town has been dwarfed in recent decades by master-planned suburbs and retirement communities where newcomers devour affordable homes. No, but there are many drug and human smuggling routes through remote desert areas.
Lamb is a regular in border-themed TV ads, showing him walking through the desert with a rifle in hand alongside Republican candidates. Borders played a key role in the launch of his campaign. This introduced him as a lawyer with first-hand experience standing up to dangerous cartels and facing the fentanyl scourge.
“This country needs a politically incorrect leader to protect us,” Lam said in the announcement video.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, Lamb refused to coerce the Republican then-government. Doug Ducey’s stay-at-home order. He also created a streaming service called “American Sheriff Network” to highlight the work of law enforcement.
Lamb could be embroiled in an overcrowded Republican primary and will likely face a formidable battle for the Republican nomination.
Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor who became a star among many Republicans before losing the 2022 gubernatorial race, is considering a run for the Senate and would be a front-runner. Others considering running include Blake Masters, Jim Ramon and Karin Taylor-Robson, who lost the 2022 Senate or Gubernatorial race.
All of Lamb’s potential Republican rivals, to varying degrees, have something the Sheriff lacks. While Lake can rake it from her legions of fans, other potential candidates have personal fortunes and benefactors they can draw from. , would be an early test of his viability.
Lamb said he was confident that even if other Republicans decided to run for office, he would win because he could talk to authority on border-related issues.
“No one is better off at the border to deal with this crisis, fight fentanyl and stop the addiction of our loved ones,” Lam told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
Despite his aggressive proposals to send the military to attack the drug cartels, Lam said the United States should work in partnership with the Mexican government.
Republicans in Arizona have embraced Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, and last year pushed a string of candidates who put election intrigues at the center of their campaigns to statewide offices. nominated to Their all-out loss in the general election has raised fears within some Republicans that it could impede their path to winning a majority in the Senate.
Mr. Lake has continued to vigorously pursue allegations of meddling in his own election loss last year, which were dismissed by the court.
Mr. Lam appeared to distance himself from election intrigue this month, saying he had not seen evidence of “serious and large-scale fraud” that could be brought before a jury. had serious problems last year that were blamed for incompetence rather than fraud.
“Where I thought I had smoke, I looked for fire,” Lamb said in an interview with a Phoenix Fox affiliate. To this day, I have never been provided with any evidence of material wrongdoing.”
But on Tuesday, Lam told The Associated Press that he was only talking about Pinal County, avoiding questions about whether voters can trust the past two elections to be fair.
“I don’t get involved in other people’s business,” Lam said. “I’m focused on what’s happening in our county.”
Late last year, Lam experienced tragedy when his 22-year-old son, his son’s fiancée, and 1-year-old daughter died in a car accident. His son, Cooper Lamb, struggled with fentanyl use and spent time in prison, but was sober for over a year before the crash.
