U.S. Senate candidate announced endorsements from 40 Republicans and independents on Sunday in a bid to show he has cross-party appeal and isolate his Republican rival, Kari Lake.
The endorsements include officials and operatives who have gained prominence for their support of other Democrats in the era of former President , or at least a rejection of him. At least 10 of Gallego’s new backers also have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. One of them is Paul Hickman, the former state director for the late U.
S. Sen. , R-Ariz.
, who was a target of Lake’s derision. Lake tried to pass off her hostility to McCain as a joke earlier this year, sparking another round of anger . Hickman, in a written statement, said he hopes Gallego will avoid divisive politics.
“It pains me to see Kari Lake use our state as a political pawn, to the detriment of our business community,” Hickman wrote. “Like my former boss, Ruben has spent decades serving his country and state. And in the Senate, I trust that Ruben will work with those of different backgrounds to make compromises, not spectacles, and continue to always put Arizona first.
” For Gallego, the endorsements are a way for him to try to follow in the footsteps of earlier Democratic wins for U.S. Sen.
, I-Ariz., who was a Democrat when she won in 2018, and U.S.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who won in 2020 and 2022.
Sinema and Kelly fashioned themselves to voters as independent-minded Democrats. Ahead of the Republican primary that en.