Lake could be part of a new generation of Republicans who don't bow to party leadership, making it harder to conduct even routine business, Manley said.

“The Republican caucus has moved very much to the right, and so I expect them to fit in pretty well,” he said. “This is another issue that the next Republican leader will have to deal with. …It's just a guarantee that it will give whoever becomes the next Republican leader a massive migraine.

“I can only assume that a Senator Gallego would give Sen. Schumer less heartburn than Sen. Sinema. There have been very few issues in recent years where Senator Schumer could honestly believe he had Senator Sinema's vote.”

Last week, Gallego outlined a long list of top priorities for fans in Sedona.

He wants to pass a border security bill like the one Sinema co-negotiated earlier this year, which failed due to Republican opposition led by former President Donald Trump, as well as immigration reform.

He said this includes tackling cost of living pressures with the aim of making housing more affordable. This includes preserving access to abortion rights nationwide through legislation modeled on the Roe v. Wade-era standard. Western Arizona residents in particular need to ensure they have affordable access to water.

“NO. 1, I think passing the child tax credit would be the most important thing,” he said. “Working families just need to be able to breathe a little bit right now, and getting $200 to $300 a month for a child is a big deal .”

“My experience growing up in my family – three sisters, my mother on a secretary's salary – was that their ability to get that extra help wouldn't have gotten us out of poverty, but it would have life certainly made a lot easier.”

Lake's campaign largely adopted Trump's priorities, but she added additional touches.

Lake's most dramatic proposal is to cut the federal budget by at least half. It doesn't provide a timeline or how to do anything that goes beyond Trump's rhetoric or that of most other Republicans in Congress.

She has suggested that entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare are off limits, but combined with military costs and interest on the national debt, this suggests that everything else the government is doing would have to stop.

Lake has repeatedly said she will reduce unspecified government waste.

At the same time, Lake said she wants to renew and expand Trump's signature tax cut law, which largely benefited corporations and business owners.

Donald Trump Jr. stands up for his father in Queen Creek

Donald Trump Jr. speaks with fellow Republicans Kari Lake, Eli Crane and Andy Biggs in Queen Creek on October 23, 2024.

Asked in October about her top priority in the Senate, Lake told conservative Brandon Straka: “Border. Secure the border immediately and take on the cartels.” It’s a priority shared by many Republicans.

She said she would propose a succinct bill to complete Trump's border wall early in her term.

Last month she unveiled her “Mama Bear” initiatives, which span several policy areas. She calls for better school choice, child discounts, especially for working mothers, an expansion of domestic energy production and tougher penalties for violent crimes, especially those involving children.

In September, Lake said Arizona residents were concerned about the cost of living and border security. She linked the rising cost of homeownership to an increase in illegal border crossings.

“We assume that a younger generation will no longer have housing,” she said. “The root of the problem, frankly, is that we haven't built enough housing for 20 years, and then you add a crisis at the border, with 21 million people pouring in, they have to live somewhere.

“Now we're competing with 21 million people who came across our border illegally and came across our border under the Biden invasion and the Ruben invasion, we're competing with them for housing.”

Lake has said she wants a ban on local jurisdictions from seizing homes from older people “due to low tax burdens,” and she wants to expand a federal rental and mortgage assistance program.

Ritchie said the Senate is a place where even a single person can bring business to a virtual standstill and that the president's “honeymoon” is over before a new administration is sworn in.

New senators have more influence early on — for better or worse — and can get good committee assignments right from the start, he said.

“They can be very influential, but once they get there, they learn that you can't do things alone,” he said. “This is the Senate’s bottom line.”