Arizona county sheriff launches GOP Senate bid

The first notable Arizona Republican announced his Senate bid Tuesday in what could end up becoming a three-way matchup against Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego.

“Washington needs a new sheriff in town,” said Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb in a campaign announcement video. NBC News first reported on Lamb’s intentions to run last week.

Lamb will likely face multiple GOP challengers, including potentially Kari Lake, the state’s GOP gubernatorial candidate in 2022 who lost her bid by just over 17,000 votes. Lake has recently traveled the state, and the country as she publicly weighs her political future and continues to make unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud.

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In Lamb’s launch video, he details the passing of his son and granddaughter in a car accident last December while also mentioning his late son’s previous struggles with fentanyl addiction. He makes the case that he has seen firsthand the consequences of the federal government’s current border policies.

“If Washington can spend $100 billion defending Ukraine’s borders, we can finish the wall and keep our own communities safe,” Lamb says in the video, adding the U.S. should go after drug cartels and “use military force to wipe them out just like we did ISIS.” 

Gallego, the only other major candidate to announce a challenge to Sinema, blasted Lamb’s entrance into the race in a statement: “Arizonans deserve serious candidates who respect our democracy and rule of law. Luckily, there’s still plenty of time for the GOP to produce one.”

Sinema announced last year she was leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an independent, throwing a wrench into the 2024 electoral calculus there in a key state in the battle for control of the Senate. She has not yet announced if she is seeking re-election.