Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego will be Arizona’s first Latino senator next year, NBC News Projectsafter defeating Republican Kari Lake amid a lengthy vote count in one of the nation’s key swing states.

Gallego will replace Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who retired after one term. This is the fourth consecutive Senate election that Democrats have won in Arizona, a county that has tilted sharply toward the middle during the Donald Trump era after years of reliable Republican control. Trump won the state in 2016 and I won it again in 2024 by what appears to be its largest margin in any of the major swing states.

But President Joe Biden narrowly won Arizona in 2020, part of a recent Democratic renaissance in the state.

A key element of Gallego’s victory was his reinvention as a moderate on a gentler battlefield instead of the fiery progressive of his early days in politics. Gallego rose through the ranks in Arizona, on the edge of his party, alongside progressive senator Bernie SandersI-Vt., and join the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the House.

However, he has largely discarded the progressive label in his Senate bid, and among other endorsements, this year he won the support of one of Arizona’s major police unions, serving a state that has more registered Republicans than Democrats.

Lake, meanwhile, failed to sufficiently iron out the sharp edges of her political persona after she lost a MAGA-aligned bid for governor in 2022 and refused to admit defeat. A portion of Republicans and independents failed to embrace her candidacy, and she ranked well behind Trump despite her efforts to tie herself to his high-end campaign.

Gallego benefited from superior fundraising in this race and greater outside support from his party, consistently outpacing Lake throughout the campaign before leaving her far behind in the money race over the last few months.

The Marine veteran and son of Colombian and Mexican immigrants merged his identity into his campaign, launching the “Veterans For Gallego” and Juntos Con Gallego” coalitions throughout the summer. But he kept his message sharp about the issues behind these identities, linking them to border security, comprehensive immigration reform and the expansion of mental health services for veterans.

Gallego has focused on his party’s strengths, like reproductive rights, but he has also tried to tackle his party’s weaknesses head-on, advertising on issues like border security. Lake attempted to tie Gallego to President Joe Biden and his administration on a host of issues, but especially on border security, one of his main focuses during their only debate in October.

Lake, who once referred to himself as “Trump in heels,” called Gallego a series of unflattering nicknames, including “swamp rat.” She also went after him personally, bringing up the details of his divorce from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and trying to connect it to his progressive past.

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