US Midterms: Hobbs Projected to Defeat Lake for Ariz. Gov
With 98% of expected votes counted as of Monday overnight, Arizona's Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is projected to become the state's next governor as she leads by a 0.8-point margin over Republican Kari Lake.
Facts
- With 98% of expected votes counted as of Monday overnight, Arizona's Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is projected to become the state's next governor as she leads by a 0.8-point margin over Republican Kari Lake.
- Hobbs, who ran on a platform that included abortion rights and increasing teacher salaries, will be the first Democrat to hold Arizona's top office since Janet Napolitano resigned in 2009 to work in the Obama admin.
- Official results, however, could be delayed until late December if the final margin between the two candidates is below half a percentage point. A new state law, with bipartisan support, expanded the threshold for automatic recounts.
- This has been one of the most closely followed contests in the 2022 midterm elections as Lake has become a prominent ally of former Pres. Donald Trump — echoing his highly controversial claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and voicing concerns over election integrity.
- Lake didn't concede defeat after the race was called on Monday night, tweeting that "Arizonans know BS when they see it" instead.
- Arizona has been at the center of the 2020 presidential election controversy since Joe Biden won the state by around 10K votes, and its governor is empowered to give final approval to the certification of the winner of the presidential election there and appoint presidential electors.
Sources: NBC, USA Today, AZ Central, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and New York Times.
Narratives
- Democratic narrative, as provided by BNN Bloomberg. US voters have sent a clear and strong message to election deniers in these midterm elections. This is even more meaningful in Arizona, which was a hotbed of dangerous denialism this year — Kari Lake was defeated in the gubernatorial race, Blake Masters failed to become senator, and Mark Finchem wasn't elected secretary of state.
- Republican narrative, as provided by Washington Examiner. It may be time for a pivot away from Trump and his allies. Kari Lake and Senate nominee Blake Masters underperformed compared to other GOP candidates in the state, including state Treasury Kimberly Yee who ran against Lake in the primary for governor. Arizona may benefit from learning from the surging success of Ron DeSantis in Florida.
- Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by One America. It's utterly unfair that establishment GOP lobbyists and politicians who were bragging about the election quickly blamed Trump for the poorer-than-expected results. If they had comprehensively analyzed this election they would realize that turning on Trump is counterproductive. More needs to be done to enhance outreach to small donors and voters.
