Mark Lamb, the pro-Trump Arizona sheriff, is running for the U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON – Mark Lamb, a sheriff and Donald Trump follower known for his border crackdowns and defiance of COVID lockdown orders, said Tuesday he will seek a U.S. Senate seat from Arizona.

"We need leaders in this country who aren’t too politically correct to protect us," the Pinal County sheriff tweeted in announcing his candidacy.

Lamb is seeking the Republican nomination for the Senate job now held by Kyrsten Sinema, who has left the Democratic Party and has filed to run as an independent in 2024.

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A Democratic Senate candidate, Ruben Gallego, attacked Lamb's candidacy, noting that the Arizona sheriff declined to criticize the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Lamb "is a threat to our democracy and unfit for elected office," Gallego said in a tweet.

Lamb is the first high-profile Republican to enter the Senate race that could decide which party controls the chamber.

The sheriff made headlines in 2020 by saying he would not enforce stay-at-home orders and mask mandates that emanated from the COVID lockdown.

Lamb later tested positive for COVID just before a Trump visit to Arizona,

Kari Lake, the 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona who is still protesting her loss of the November, has said she is also considering a Senate bid next year.