In a new digital ad released across Arizona on Monday, Republican Senate hopeful Kari Lake’s campaign is connecting Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) to President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate.
The ad, called “Arizonans deserve better,” begins showing a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris asking the public to tune into Biden’s debate before launching into snippets that highlight criticism from television pundits.
“Joe Biden is 100% gone. Ruben Gallego votes with Biden 100% of the time,” a narrator in the ad says. “Sleepy Joe and radical Ruben. Arizonans deserve better than this trainwreck.”
The digital ad, which the Lake campaign said is part of a $10 million ad spend, is part of a growing strategy in which Republicans in both chambers are targeting downballot Democrats and tying them to the fallout and previous comments, downplaying concerns about Biden’s fitness for office. Gallego, who is running for Senate against Lake, isn’t mentioned until 21 seconds into the 30-second spot.
Senate Republican hopeful David McCormick, running against Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) in Pennsylvania, released an ad last week featuring comments from the senator expressing confidence in Biden’s mental fitness interspersed with clips from the debate last Thursday and criticism from cable commentators.
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The National Republican Senatorial Committee also put out a video mashup of the Senate candidates responding to questions about Biden’s fitness in the days after the debate, intermixed with clips of Biden stumbling during the debate on X.
“Ruben Gallego voted with Joe Biden 100 percent of the time. He endorsed Biden in 2020 and 2024, knowing the decline was happening,” a Lake campaign spokesperson said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “Ruben lied to voters about Biden’s decline and supported all of Biden’s open border and policies that led to high inflation. Ruben can’t run from his support of Biden.”
Gallego has not weighed in on whether Biden should stay in the presidential race. The five-term congressman has tried to create some distance from the president and has criticized him on rare occasions, particularly on matters regarding border policies. Gallego notably voted with House Republicans for the Laken Riley Act, a Republican-led bill that deports dangerous criminals, despite House Democrats’ opposition.
“Kari Lake is showing once again with this false attack that she is a power-hungry liar who will say or do anything to get power,” said Hannah Goss, a spokeswoman for Gallego’s campaign. “Ruben Gallego is a Marine combat veteran who works with anyone to do what is right for Arizona families.”
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Polling shows a tight contest between the two, but the most recent surveys indicate Gallego has an edge over Lake in the critical swing state. Gallego narrowly leads Lake by 4 percentage points, 45% to 41%, according to a recent poll by Emerson College and the Hill. That poll was conducted during the second week of June.
Lake’s allies have pointed to former President Donald Trump’s polling in Arizona against Biden as a good sign for her campaign. Trump leads Biden 43% to 39% in the same poll.