“Ruben Gallego, a child of immigrants who found his way to Harvard, Iraq and Congress, was projected to defeat Republican Kari Lake on Monday night and in January will become Arizona’s first Latino U.S. senator,” the Arizona Republic reports.

Washington Post: Ruben Gallego beats GOP’s Kari Lake in Arizona senate race.

“U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego filed suit to end his marriage with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego just before she gave birth to their son and sought to keep the split outside the public view from the start, newly unsealed records show,” the Arizona Republic reports.

“He said the marriage was ‘irretrievably broken,’ a legal term common in Arizona cases. The ensuing documents shuttled between lawyers for both of them show no claim of infidelity or physical abuse in their marriage.”

“Even so, the redacted records bring a measure of personal scrutiny that Democrat Ruben Gallego hoped to avoid in the last stages of his Senate race against Republican Kari Lake.”

“The Arizona Supreme Court quickly rejected a request Wednesday from U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego and his ex-wife, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, to keep their 2016 divorce file secret any longer, clearing the way for the information to be released with some redactions after midnight,” the Arizona Republic reports.

“For Kari Lake’s Senate campaign, things have gone from bad to worse,” NOTUS reports.

“Just weeks out from Election Day, a poll had her trailing her Democratic opponent in the Arizona Senate race by double-digit points, her largest deficit to date. She didn’t get the backing of the Arizona Police Association, which gave its endorsement to her Democratic opponent instead, even though the traditionally Republican group endorsed her two years ago during her unsuccessful gubernatorial run. Lake is also at a financial disadvantage to Rep. Ruben Gallego, who has vastly outraised her as long as she’s been in the race.”

“Insiders attribute the campaign’s free fall to personal animus and position flip-flopping, particularly on abortion, leaving a growing number of independents and Republicans in the state running to Gallego. It’s frustrating Republicans, especially in Arizona.”

A new Fox News poll in Arizona shows Ruben Gallego (D) way ahead of Kari Lake (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 56% to 41%.

“Kari Lake won the U.S. Senate nomination for Republicans as expected on Tuesday, but unofficial results suggest a far narrower victory over Mark Lamb than her campaign touted two weeks before voting began,” the Arizona Republic reports.

“If the final margins stay well below the 30-percentage point difference Lake’s campaign cited in mid-June, it could deepen longstanding concerns among Republicans in Arizona and nationally that she cannot defeat Democrat Ruben Gallego in November.”

A new AARP poll in Arizona found Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) leading Kari Lake (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 45%, with 6% undecided.

“Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake (R) recently held a campaign event that included a Confederate battle flag prominently displayed behind her,” the Arizona Republic reports.

“For Lake, the optics of an image of her in front of the symbol of the Confederacy could undermine her efforts to reach Arizona’s sizable independent voters and deepen the Democratic narrative of her as an extremist.”

Rep. Ruben Gallego’s (D-AZ) U.S. Senate bid in Arizona “is getting a boost from a group of donors who previously backed Republicans like the late Sen. John McCain and the independent incumbent he hopes to replace, Kyrsten Sinema,” Politico reports.

“Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) prepped his run for a fiercely contested Senate seat by bashing the incumbent for ‘abandoning the Democratic Party’ and Arizonans, and standing in the way of expanding voting rights and abortion access with her support for the filibuster,” the Washington Post reports.

“Now, after Sinema decided not to seek reelection, Gallego says he would ‘love to have’ avowed centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s endorsement, calling her ‘very well-liked’ among her fellow independents.”

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), “running unopposed in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Arizona, placed a reservation on Monday for $19 million in television advertisements for the general election this fall, according to his campaign — the largest any Senate candidate in the country has made so far,” the New York Times reports.

“National Republicans embraced Kari Lake’s Arizona Senate bid, reasoning she was likely to win the primary with or without their support,” Politico reports.

“Now they are confronting the consequences of having a MAGA lightning rod as their nominee in one of the most competitive states in the country. And some GOP leaders are undecided about just how much support to offer her in a general election, given ample opportunities elsewhere to pick up Senate seats.”

“Lake has not managed a clean pivot from her hard-right roots. In the past month alone, she publicly waffled on her opposition to Arizona’s near-total abortion ban and returned to the flamethrowing rhetoric of her last run when she urged voters to ‘strap on a Glock’ to prepare for 2024.”

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “The two new developments that pushed us to make these changes are the increased importance of abortion rights in the state following a blockbuster state court decision last week as well as recent Democratic fundraising strength in both races.”

Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake (R) urged supporters in Arizona to “strap on a Glock” pistol as they prepare for what she called an intense six months leading up to the Nov. 5 elections, Reuters reports.

Said Lake: “We are going to put on the armor of God. Then maybe strap on a Glock.”

Rep. Ruben Gallego, the expected Democratic nominee for Senate in Arizona, “raised $7.5 million in the first three months of the year, his campaign said on Tuesday, a significant sum for what is likely to be a competitive general election race in the battleground state,” the New York Times reports.

“So far, Mr. Gallego has raised more money than Kari Lake, who has not yet released her most recent quarterly fund-raising numbers.”

“Kari Lake opened her Senate run in Arizona showing every intention of shedding the trappings of the Trumpism that made her a star in conservative circles but cost her the governor’s race two years ago: unfounded claims of election fraud, ruthless attacks on fellow Republicans and obsequious tributes to former President Donald Trump,” the New York Times reports.

“Ms. Lake, a former television anchor, has reached out to her critics. She has sought to appeal to the Republican establishment in ways that Mr. Trump has not, framing his Make America Great Again movement as a natural evolution of Reaganism, which attracted legions of voters to the party more 40 years ago. And she has moderated her message on abortion, opposing a federal ban on the procedure she once called ‘the ultimate sin.'”

“But after six months as a Senate candidate, she is struggling to walk away from the controversial positions that have turned off independents and alienated potential allies, lashing out in ways that Republicans now backing her campaign have warned will result in another defeat.”