It’s on: Date set for Arizona Senate debate between Ruben Gallego and Kari Lake
Aug 23, 2024, 1:05 PM | Updated: 1:10 pm
Ruben Gallego and Kari Lake will face off Oct. 9, 2024, in an Arizona Senate debate. (Getty Images Photos)
(Getty Images Photos)
PHOENIX — The highly anticipated Arizona Senate debate between Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake is a go, officials announced Thursday.
The nominees will face off for 60 minutes on Oct. 9, starting at 6 p.m., according to Clean Elections, the state’s nonpartisan debate sponsor.
The debate will give voters a chance to weigh the candidates in a race that could decide which party wins control of the Senate in the Nov. 5 general election.
As of Friday, the RealClearPolitics polling average showed Gallego in control of the race with a 6.7% advantage.
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Former ABC15 journalist Nohelani Graf and radio host Steve Goldstein will moderate the event, which will be broadcast across multiple platforms in a collaboration with the Arizona Media Association.
The public can submit questions for the Arizona Senate debate and other Clean Elections general election face-offs on the group’s website.
“The decisions voters make this election will have lasting impacts, as they are electing our next U.S. Senator for a six-year term,” Clean Elections Voter Education Director Gina Roberts said in a press release. “We appreciate the candidates’ willingness to step onto the stage and speak directly to Arizona voters, who have come to trust the Clean Elections debate programming as a top source of voter education.”
What to know about candidates in Arizona Senate debate
Gallego and Lake each had a speaking slot at their parties’ conventions. Gallego spoke about his military experience at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Thursday night, while Lake took shots at the opposing party during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on June 16.
Their October debate will be the first of the 2024 election cycle for each of them.
Gallego ran unopposed on the Democratic side. Lake, meanwhile, declined an invitation from Clean Elections to debate Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb before last month’s Republican primary, saying she didn’t need to because polls show her with a comfortable lead. The MAGA firebrand who entered politics after leaving her local TV news anchor job ended up defeating Lamb by 16 percentage points.
Two years earlier, Lake was highly critical of Democrat Katie Hobbs for sidestepping a debate while they were running for governor in 2022. However, Hobbs was elected in a close race.
The upcoming Gallego-Lake debate won’t be their first head-to-head confrontation, however.
In October of last year, Lake and Gallego traded words outside a Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport restroom in an exchange captured on video and posted online.
