Lara Trump reportedly mulling 2022 Senate run in North Carolina

Outgoing president’s daughter-in-law will be running for an open seat if she chooses to enter the race

The New York Times has reported that Lara Trump, Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, is eyeing a possible Senate run in her home state of North Carolina in 2022.  

The Times story cites three allies of Ms Trump, who told the outlet that she has been considering a Senate run.  

If true, Ms Trump will run for an open seat. Senator Richard Burr, who currently holds it, plans to retire at the end of this term.  

The North Carolina race is expected to be tight; while Mr Trump did win the state this year, he did so by a smaller margin than in 2016, suggesting the state may be more favourable to Democratic challengers in the future.  

Ms Trump formerly worked as producer for Inside Edition, a TV news magazine. In 2016, she left and began actively working toward the election of Mr Trump. 

In addition to starting the "Trump-Pence Women's Empowerment Tour," she also started a web programme called Real News Update in which she appears as a talking head delivering pro-Trump stories.  

Though she married into the family, Ms Trump holds views that are in line with the anti-immigrant rhetoric Mr Trump has employed to rally his base.  

In 2019, Ms Trump criticised Germany's decision to accept refugees, calling it the "downfall of Germany." She also has campaigned alongside the far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who was banned from using both Uber and Lyft for making anti-Muslim comments and later banned from Twitter for attacking Rep Ilhan Omar by calling her "anti Jewish" and disparaging her Islamic faith.  

Ms Trump is married to Eric Trump.  

Trump ally and former spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway told the Times that Ms Trump would "be formidable" if she ran.  

"She has the trifecta: she can raise money, raise awareness of key issues and raise attention to her race. Unlike many typical politicians, she connects with people and is a compelling messenger," Ms Conway said.  

During the 2020 election, Ms Trump made campaign stops on behalf of the president, and echoed his baseless attacks on mail-in voting. She said the system was "ripe with fraud" and that voting by mail "is not a good system, it's never been tested."  

Many states utilise mail in voting - some exclusively - and absentee voting has been available to citizens since the Civil War.  

Since Mr Biden's projected election victory, Ms Trump has also put forward debunked voter fraud conspiracy theories, including those involving Dominion Voting Systems, which some Republicans have claimed - without evidence - switched votes for Mr Trump to Mr Biden.  

Ms Trump was not immediately available for comment.