Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego will be Arizona’s first Latino senator next year, NBC News projects, after defeating Republican Kari Lake in a hard-fought Senate race.

The congressman leaned on his personal story and military service to build an image as a pragmatic moderate who would work to fix the nation’s broken immigration system and fight for veterans and for reproductive rights.

Democrat Ruben Gallego has won the U.S. Senate race in Arizona, defeating his far-right Republican rival, Kari Lake, according to a race call by Associated Press late on Monday, Nov. 11.