Ruben Gallego says Senate rival Kari Lake is 'lying' about her new stance on abortion

U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego said Friday that Republican rival Kari Lake is lying to voters about her views on abortion rights, making clear that Democrats intend to make the issue a central matter in the race.

Gallego, a five-term member of Congress, ridiculed Lake’s video Thursday framing her message on the issue after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 territorial-era law that bans nearly all abortions.

Lake, who vocally supported the 19^th Century law during her 2022 gubernatorial run, this week urged the Legislature to repeal the measure, saying "a full ban on abortion is not where the people are."

During a news conference in Phoenix, Gallego called Lake “a political opportunist” willing to say or do anything to win.

“She saw the reaction — the natural reaction — of women and men in Arizona, just horrified that this happened,” he said. “She tried to wiggle her way out in so many ways so she decided that putting a video together with soft lighting and some background music would help explain away her very, very extreme positions. It’s not.

“The other thing is, voters know that you are lying Kari and they’re not going to trust you. … Arizona voters are not going to fall for this.”

Who is Ruben Gallego?: What to know about the Democratic candidate in Arizona's Senate race

Gallego and Lake are both running for the Senate seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz. Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is also running for the GOP nomination. He has not weighed in publicly on his view of the abortion ruling.

Gallego’s pointed words came on the same day Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Tucson to blame former President Donald Trump for helping upend abortion rights across the country. She held up Arizona’s newly relevant 1864 law as marking the reality millions of women face after the U.S. Supreme Court erased federal abortion rights.

That visit, and Gallego’s attacks, reflect Democrats’ beliefs that the courts have clarified the stakes of the upcoming election and handed them an issue broadly popular with the public.

Gallego introduced Harris in Tucson and missed eight votes in Washington on Friday, the day of her visit, including one to reauthorize a controversial U.S. spy program.

The Republican-controlled Legislature could not agree Wednesday on its legislative response to the nationally watched ruling, leaving the matter to simmer days longer as some state GOP members reportedly traveled to a fundraiser in Kentucky.

Trump weighed in Friday in a social media post, saying the Arizona court “went too far on their Abortion Ruling, enacting and approving an inappropriate Law from 1864. So now the Governor and the Arizona Legislature must use HEART, COMMON SENSE, and ACT.”

Alex Nicoll, a Lake campaign spokesman, suggested Gallego is a hypocrite to position himself as a champion of women and referred to his 2017 divorce from now-Mayor Kate Gallego.

“Ruben Gallego left his wife when she was weeks away from giving birth. Kari Lake is the only mom and woman in the race. He is a total fraud, and Arizona voters will reject his radical agenda come November. Kari is focused on helping women and supporting babies. Ruben left his wife and cannot be trusted.”

For Lake, the ruling has pushed her previous statements on the 1864 law and abortion rights generally back to the forefront.

In June 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court toppled Roe v. Wade, the case that established federal abortion rights, Lake, who was running for governor at the time, specifically welcomed a return to the Civil War-era law in Arizona.

“I’m incredibly thrilled that we are going to have a great law that’s already on the books. I believe it’s (Arizona Revised Statutes) 1336-03 that will prohibit abortion in Arizona except to save the life of a mother,” she said in an interview with KFYI (550 AM) on the day of that ruling. “I think we’re going to be paving the way and setting course for other states to follow.”

Since joining the Senate race in October, Lake has said she would oppose a federal ban on abortions, a point she repeated in her video Thursday.

“I never would ever assume that any woman had the same exact feelings that I had or situation I had,” Lake said in the video. “We know that some women are economically in a horrible situation. They might be in an abusive relationship. They might be the victim of rape. I agree with President Trump, we must have exceptions for rape, incest and the life of a mother.”

Gallego has said he supports federal legislation that would codify the legal protections previously held under Roe v. Wade and would be willing to sidestep the legislative filibuster to do so.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ruben Gallego calls out Kari Lake's new abortion stance