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.
