AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
AP called Kari Lake’s defeat in the Arizona Senate race on Monday evening, proclaiming Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) the winner with a margin of more than 70,000 votes.
“AP Race Call: Democrat Ruben Gallego has been elected Arizona’s first Latino U.S. senator,” announced AP at around 10 p.m. local time, Monday.
With 95% of the vote counted, Gallego received more than 1.6 million votes – or around 50%. Lake received just over 1.5 million votes – around 47.8%.
Gallego thanked his supporters in a post on social media and addressed his victory in a speech.
“For those who don’t know me, my name is Ruben Gallego. I am a husband, a marine, a father, and a proud Arizonan. And with the results we saw tonight, your next senator from the great state of Arizona,” said Gallego as his supporters cheered.
Lake’s defeat was previously projected by Decision Desk HQ on Saturday evening, with around 88% of the vote counted.
Conservative commentator Meghan McCain – the daughter of the late John McCain, who served as a U.S. senator from Arizona for more than 30 years – celebrated Lake’s projected defeat on Saturday with a photo of the politician captioned, “Get in loser, we’re going losing!”
