Representative Ruben Gallego, a Phoenix-area Democrat and military veteran, has won the Senate race in Arizona, according to The Associated Press — a rare bright spot for Democrats after Republicans regained control of the chamber.
Mr. Gallego defeated his Republican opponent, Kari Lake, a fiery ally of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s, after leading her by sizable margins throughout the summer and the fall. The final result was much closer than some predictions, another sign of Republican strength throughout the country.
Mr. Gallego is a five-term congressman who grew up in a working-class Chicago family, attended Harvard University and fought in the Iraq war as a Marine. He will become Arizona’s first Latino senator, replacing Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an independent and former Democrat.
After going decades without electing a Democrat to the Senate, Arizona’s voters have now done so in four successive elections, underscoring the state’s shift from reliable conservative stronghold to competitive battleground. Voters backed Ms. Sinema in 2018, picked Senator Mark Kelly in a special election in 2020 and then elected him again in 2022.
But Mr. Gallego’s victory is perhaps the most notable from an ideological standpoint. For years, he was an outspoken progressive, and there were early questions about whether he would come across as too liberal to be elected statewide.
Mr. Gallego announced in January 2023 that he would challenge Ms. Sinema for her seat, after she angered Democrats by voting with Republicans to stymie key pieces of President Biden’s agenda.
During his campaign, he caught two big breaks. One came when Ms. Sinema announced this year that she would not run for re-election, allowing him to consolidate the support of Democratic voters.
The other was the entrance of Ms. Lake, a former television anchor and vocal ally of Mr. Trump’s who rose to prominence through a divisive governor’s race in 2022, during which she insulted her fellow Republicans and championed Mr. Trump’s baseless election conspiracy theories.
Ms. Lake alienated many on the right with her tactics, especially after she filed a series of fruitless lawsuits contesting her 2022 loss. Republicans nevertheless mostly coalesced around her in the G.O.P. primary for Senate this year, giving Mr. Gallego as vulnerable an opponent as he could hope for.
Mr. Gallego, who was once known for lobbing profanities at Republicans on social media, ran a disciplined campaign. He successfully rebranded himself as an even-tempered moderate, highlighting his veteran status and pitching himself as a pragmatic legislator who would focus on lowering costs for families and championing tribal water rights. Strategists also expected Mr. Gallego, because of his background and military experience, to perform better among Latino men — a group that Vice President Kamala Harris seemed to struggle with.
He enjoyed an enormous cash advantage over Ms. Lake, which enabled him to introduce himself to voters on his terms. He also crisscrossed the state, visiting all 22 of Arizona’s federally recognized Native American tribes.
Ms. Lake was an underdog throughout the fall, with polls showing her consistently trailing Mr. Gallego, even as Mr. Trump led Ms. Harris in Arizona.
She failed to land a decisive blow at the candidates’ sole televised debate, in early October. And in the waning days of the campaign, she was unable to generate a big moment that could swing the race.
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