Republican Kari Lake attacks Democratic opponent with deceitful, inaccurate ad

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake of Arizona released a new ad accusing her Democratic opponent of supporting “catch and release” immigration policies. The 30 second spot is riddled with falsehoods.

The Arizona senate race is considered a must-watch for 2024. The seat is up for grabs following independent Sen. Krysten Sinema’s decision to not seek reelection. The presumptive Democratic nominee is U.S. House Rep. Ruben Gallego.

Lake posted the ad to social media on April 19. In it, a menacing voiceover states that “catch and release is killing innocent Americans and Ruben Gallego won’t do a damn thing to stop it.” The spot goes on to cite the case of Laken Riley, a 22-year old nursing student who was murdered by an undocumented immigrant in February 2024.

Riley’s alleged killer, José Antonio Ibarra of Venezuela, was apprehended while crossing the southern border in 2022 but released in accordance with U.S. immigration law. Ibarra was subsequently arrested and released again in October 2023 on shoplifting charges.

The ad omits a crucial fact: Gallego backed the Laken Riley Act, a Republican authored bill that would require the detention of any migrant who commits burglary or theft. Gallego was one of only 37 House Democrats to support the legislation.

The bill has not yet received a vote in the senate.

In addition to the Laken Riley Act, Gallego was a proponent of the bipartisan border security package crafted by Sinema and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK). The bill would have dramatically changed how undocumented migrants are processed and monitored. 

Under the current system, crossing the border without proper documentation is a misdemeanor. Migrants are processed and given court dates. Due to a backlog, these court dates can sometimes be years off.

Lankford and Sinema’s bill sought to speed up this process. The legislation would have required more migrants to be detained. Those who were released would be given ankle monitoring bracelets and court dates no more than 90 days in the future. The bill was endorsed by the union representing Border Patrol Agents.

Lake opposed the bill.

“It’s garbage,” Lake said of the legislation in January. “It’s a slap in the face to the American people.”

Former President Donald Trump rallied Republicans to buck the bipartisan legislation. He reportedly voiced fears the bill would help President Joe Biden’s reelection chances. Senate Republicans heeded Trump’s calls and in February killed the legislation.

Gallego criticized Lake for opposing the bill.

“Kari Lake spends every minute of her day fear-mongering about the border,” Gallego said in a social media post, “when there’s finally a bipartisan deal to stop the border crisis, she’s against it from the jump. She doesn’t care about solutions. She wants a spectacle. For Kari, politics will always come before what Arizonans need.”

Lake’s ad was also shared on the social media accounts of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. NRSC chairman Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the Laken Riley Act in the U.S. Senate.

A Lake spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment for this story.