Key Senate race in Arizona could hinge on voters who back Trump and the Democratic candidate

PHOENIX (AP) — If Ruben Gallego is going to give Democrats their fourth straight U.S. Senate victory in Arizona, he’s probably going to need support from an unlikely group: Donald Trump voters.

Gallego and his GOP rival, former television news anchor Kari Lake, are both targeting undecided Republicans in a contest that will test the strength of Trump’s coattails. Ticket-splitting voters are increasingly rare in an era when partisan loyalty reigns, but they could be central in determining which party controls the Senate.

For Gallego, that means winning over voters like Winfield Morris, a 62-year-old Republican farmer and rancher who plans to vote for Trump for president but can’t get behind his loyal ally in the Senate race.

“I don’t like Kari Lake and I’m not going to vote for her,” said Morris, who lives in southern Arizona and has businesses across the state. “I don’t think she has what it takes.”

Morris supported former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley over Trump and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb over Lake in the GOP primaries. He said he was furious to see Lake attack the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain in her failed 2022 campaign for governor. Trump also has attacked McCain, but Morris said he doesn’t see Democrat Kamala Harris as a viable alternative.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-hide-dates=«true» data-show-loadmore=«true»