Lake and Gallego Spar Over Immigration and Abortion in Arizona Senate Debate

Lake and Gallego Spar Over Immigration and Abortion in Arizona Senate Debate

At times, Kari Lake, the Republican candidate and close ally of Donald Trump, veered into personal attacks. Ruben Gallego, the Democrat, needled her over frequent visits to Mar-a-Lago.

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By Kellen Browning

Reporting from Phoenix

After spending most of the year disparaging each other from afar throughout the campaign for U.S. Senate in Arizona, Kari Lake, a Republican and close Trump ally, and Representative Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, wasted no time doing so again on their debate stage on Wednesday night.

Competing for the seat of Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who is retiring, Ms. Lake and Mr. Gallego focused on policy but also seized every opportunity to jab at each other by reminding viewers of past comments and positions.

Ms. Lake repeatedly accused Mr. Gallego of having undergone “an extreme makeover,” shifting from a progressive member of the House to a more moderate lawmaker whose views are more palatable to the majority of Arizonans, including the Republican voters Mr. Gallego is actively wooing. And she sought to skewer him on immigration, accusing him of being soft on the border.

“Ruben Gallego has supported — every step of the way — Kamala Harris, the border czar, and Joe Biden’s open border,” Ms. Lake said.

Mr. Gallego, who has worked to tack more toward the middle in the past year, especially on immigration, also talked tough, saying he was proud of votes during his time in Congress to bring more border agents to Arizona. He also hit back, accusing Ms. Lake of opposing a bipartisan border security bill for political expediency.

“You’ve been to Mar-a-Lago more than you have been to the border,” Mr. Gallego said at one point, referring to former President Donald J. Trump’s Florida resort.

Ms. Lake, whose vocal embrace of Mr. Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and hostility toward the state’s Republican establishment divided her party during her failed bid for governor two years ago, went into the debate well behind Mr. Gallego in most surveys of the race and in fund-raising, though both campaigns believe the race will tighten somewhat. Critically, Mr. Gallego is attracting the support of Republicans who also indicate they would vote for Mr. Trump.

It did not appear Ms. Lake landed the knockout blow she might need to reorient the race, even as she assailed Mr. Gallego in personal terms.

She invoked his father, a convicted drug dealer, and accused Mr. Gallego of using recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as “political pawns.”

“I find that to be disgusting, Ruben,” she said.

Mr. Gallego opted not to respond directly to Ms. Lake’s remarks about his father — but goaded her with the suggestion that Mr. Trump is less eager to associate with her as she trails in the polls.

While discussing abortion, Mr. Gallego pointed out that Ms. Lake was the one who had shifted stances, from being a vocal opponent of the procedure to saying she would oppose a federal ban. And Ms. Lake used the focus on women to suggest Mr. Gallego’s personal history with women was disqualifying, bringing up two decade-old harassment accusations made against him, which did not result in any action.

“Whenever she doesn’t have an answer, she just goes for personal attacks,” Mr. Gallego complained, saying one of the women who had made the accusation was now supporting his campaign. (Ms. Lake also misspoke while discussing reproductive rights, referring to in vitro fertilization several times as “U.V.F.” rather than “I.V.F.”)

Ms. Lake flashed some of the aggressiveness that has endeared her to Mr. Trump’s MAGA base — often interrupting Mr. Gallego to butt in with an attack — but he parried her capably, quickly ready with fact checks. Both sought to make the most of favorable issues: immigration, for Ms. Lake, and abortion, for Mr. Gallego.

She made what was perhaps her strongest argument — one that mirrors an attack Mr. Trump has made against Vice President Kamala Harris — only fleetingly: If Mr. Gallego was so focused on Arizona’s problems, why had he not addressed them already?

“I haven’t had a vote in this; you’ve had a vote for 10 years,” she said.

Mr. Gallego’s strongest message was one he hit on repeatedly, even though the moderators did not directly question her about it: her continued refusal to accept that she lost the 2022 governor’s race. Ms. Lake falsely insists she won, and has filed a series of fruitless lawsuits trying to overturn that election.

“She’s failed the basic test of honesty,” he said at one point, tying the issue to abortion. “Why would we trust her with our daughters?”

During a discussion of climate and water policy, Mr. Gallego brought up the issue again.

“Can you finally tell the people of Arizona: Did you win or lose that election?” he said.

Ms. Lake demurred.

“Can we talk about water really quickly?” she replied.