The debate between U.S. Senate candidates Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego last Wednesday left many pundits and political operatives in agreement that Lake outperformed Gallego, who currently serves in the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona’s 3rd congressional district.
While the debate received little mainstream media coverage, some of the few outlets that did address it, as well as fellow Democrats, expressed their disappointment in Gallego’s performance.
Arizona political consultant Chuck Coughlin of High Ground, who endorsed Gallego, said during an interview with Fox 10, “She’s got a skill set… she’s extraordinarily good at interjecting and creating a narrative on top of somebody else because she’s going to shout you down.”
Referencing Lake frequently interjecting jabs at Gallego, Coughlin observed, “Somebody failed to negotiate the mic cut.” He added, “I think Ruben was caught off guard. He sounded a little nervous to me.”
Zach Buchanan, news editor of the far-left tabloid Phoenix New Times, asked on X, “Will Kari Lake ever stop interrupting?”
He linked to an article at the publication that said, “Lake’s constant interruptions were a theme of the night, and early on, Gallego became noticeably fed up with them.”
The Associated Press reported, “Lake’s comfort and polish in front of the camera stood in contrast to Gallego, a military veteran who occasionally tripped on his words.”
The Arizona Republic’s Bill Goodykoontz admitted that Gallego “didn’t respond as forcefully as he might have.” He said Lake made “so many rapid-fire insults neither Gallego nor the moderators could respond to all of them. The moderators didn’t fact-check, so it was up to Gallego to call Lake out, but it would have taken all night to do so.”
Goodykoontz said, “Lake is smooth, obviously comfortable in front of a camera. Gallego, though he is a U.S. representative, is noticeably less so.”
While he didn’t admit Lake won, he didn’t say Gallego won the debate either. “It’s impossible to say who ‘won’ the debate,” Goodykoontz said. “It just felt like everyone lost, all the way around.”
Similarly, another Republic writer, Phil Boas, said Lake was “right” that Gallego was the product of an “extreme makeover.” He said, “U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego is the ultimate chameleon. Two years ago he was a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, trolling social media’s unpoliced trails with his vulgar prose.”
He contrasted their styles. While Lake was “[w]ell pressed and pinpoint in her appearance and speech,” “Gallego’s opening was shaky. You could feel his anxiety in his broken sentences and uncertain eyes.”
However, Boas attempted to salvage Gallego’s debate performance by criticizing Lake for much of the rest of the article, claiming that even though he performed poorly, she performed even worse.
Laurie Roberts, an opinion writer for The Republic, began her column praising Lake. “Republicans were over the moon about Kari Lake’s performance during Wednesday’s debate, with Lake herself declaring her ‘clear victory,’” she said. “Indeed, it was a polished performance that her most ardent MAGA supporters will cheer. She was aggressive on the border, evasive on abortion, and she attacked Ruben Gallego’s parentage with her trademark gusto. As a MAGA rallying point, Lake’s performance was an 11 on a 10-point scale.”
In contrast, she said, “Gallego seemed nervous as the hourlong debate began.” However, she wrapped her article up by attacking Lake.
Ronald Hansen, a news writer for The Republic, admitted, “Wednesday’s debate was likely Lake’s best night since she formally entered the race a year ago with a videotaped endorsement from former President Donald Trump.” He hinted at Gallego’s poor performance, “It was a good night for her, but that means there is likely no upside to Gallego doing another one.” He attempted to justify Gallego not agreeing to any further debates by pointing out that previous Senate candidates have rarely participated in more than one debate.
Lake’s senior advisor Carolyn Wren posted during the debate, “We are 45 minutes into the debate and here are two texts I’ve received from McCain Republicans who supported Kari Lake’s primary opponents. Kari is crushing this debate. Arizona Republicans are UNITED against Radical Ruben Gallego.”
Four days after the debate, even though wealthy interests are pouring money into Gallego’s campaign—three times as much funding as the Lake campaign has received—his campaign sent out a this text message to supporters.
“This isn’t the news we hoped we’d be sharing 24 hours before Trump comes back to Arizona… October has been absolutely brutal for fundraising. Bad enough that we’re being forced to reconsider the budget decisions we’ve made in the home stretch. With Trump in town tomorrow, we’re expecting things to get even worse. An increase in attacks from Trump and his MAGA followers is the last thing we need right now. We can’t have Trump rallying his supporters to vote while we run short of the resources we need to turn out our own.”
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on X / Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Arizona Senate Debate” by Arizona Media Association / Arizona Clean Elections.
