FIRST ON FOX: Democrats are going on the offensive in what is expected to be one of the most closely watched Senate races this year as they look to block the likely Republican nominee’s efforts to secure the support of independent and moderate GOP voters in Arizona.
A new ad launched Tuesday by the Senate Majority PAC — a group with close ties to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer aiming to protect and grow Democrats’ narrow majority in the Senate — highlights Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake’s past attacks aimed at the late Sen. John McCain, also a Republican, who represented the state from 1987 until his death in 2018.
“We don’t have any McCain Republicans in here do we?” Lake, who unsuccessfully ran for Arizona governor, said in a video clip from a 2022 campaign speech included in the ad titled, “Haunt Her.”
“Get the hell out,” Lake adds in the clip.
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From left to right, Meghan McCain, Kari Lake and John McCain. (Getty Images)
Another clip included in the ad shows Lake saying she “drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine,” while audio from reporters and commentators criticizing Lake over her comments is also heard.
The ad ends with a clip of Meghan McCain, a conservative commentator and McCain’s daughter, saying of Lake, “She tweeted at me again today. The internal polling … must be just staggeringly awful … when it comes to Independents and McCain Republicans.”
“And it’s why she can’t win Arizona,” McCain added.
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The ad is part of a five-figure digital ad buy that will run across Arizona and comes less than a week after McCain lashed out at Lake on social media following the latter dismissing her previous attitude and comments toward McCain’s late father as jokes.
“Kari Lake is trying to walk back her continued attacks on my Dad (& family) and all of his loyal supporters after telling them to ‘get the hell out.’ Guess she realized she can’t become a Senator without us. No peace, b—-. We see you for who you are – and are repulsed by it,” McCain wrote in a post on X.
Lake responded to McCain in what appeared to be an attempt to make amends, but McCain simply repeated, “NO PEACE, B—-!”
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“In 2022, McCain Republicans joined Democrats and Independents to reject Kari Lake’s brand of extremism,” Senate Majority PAC President JB Poersch told Fox News Digital. “Just because Lake landed Mitch McConnell and Steve Daines’ endorsements, doesn’t mean she gets to run away from her repeated insults against one of Arizona’s most beloved political figures and his supporters.”
“This ad will remind voters that Kari Lake will say or do anything to get ahead, and that she has no place representing Arizona in the Senate,” he added.
Kari Lake, then-Republican gubernatorial candidate for Arizona, speaks during an Arizona Republican Party election night rally in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (Jon Cherry/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Although Lake has not been officially endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, she has received the endorsement of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the official campaign arm of Senate Republicans.
“The Senate Majority PAC is about to become the Senate Minority PAC. They already have to come to Ruben’s defense because of Biden’s drag on the ticket and the wide open border, spending money this early because Gallego’s poll numbers are tanking,” a Lake campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital, referencing Lake’s likely Democrat opponent in the race, Phoenix area Rep. Ruben Gallego.
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“Kari Lake is unifying Republicans in Arizona and will work to fix the problems created by Biden and Gallego. Ruben Gallego has yet to receive the endorsement of DSCC or Senator Mark Kelly because they know he is a toxic loser who left his wife when she was 9 months pregnant,” the spokesperson added.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., walks down the House steps after the final votes of the week in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, September 14, 2023. (ill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
When asked for comment about the ad, NRSC spokesman Tate Mitchell attributed the effort to focus on Lake’s relationship with the McCains as an attempt by Gallegoto to distract from his own issues.
“Ruben Gallego is desperately trying to change the subject after reports came out that he abandoned his wife when she was nearly nine months pregnant. Gallego also doesn’t want to discuss his support for Joe Biden’s open-border policies that led to illegal immigrants murdering Americans, assaulting police officers, and spreading deadly drugs throughout the country,” Mitchell told Fox.
Another source pointed Fox to Gallego’s frequent attacks against John McCain while he was still serving as Arizona’s senator, including calling him “irrelevant,” and blasting him over his support for the war in Iraq and his position on immigration. The source also mentioned that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm of Senate Democrats, had yet to endorse Gallego.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.