Katie Hobbs defeats Kari Lake in Arizona governor race
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Democrat Katie Hobbs expanded her lead in the Arizona governor's race over the weekend, but Republican Kari Lake gained some ground over the past couple nights.
The latest: AP projected at 9:20pm ET that Hobbs had defeated Lake.
Flashback: The governor's race was still too close to call on Monday morning, with 160,021 votes left to count statewide, including 94,285 in Maricopa County.
- Hobbs was up by 26,011 votes, a 50.5%-49.5% lead as of Sunday night.
- Lake was losing Maricopa County 52%-48%, but started picking up votes there as election officials began counting early ballots that voters dropped off on Election Day, which were widely expected to favor Republicans.
- Yes, but: Hobbs dominated in Pima County over the weekend, which helped offset Lake's gains in Maricopa County.
The intrigue: In a statement Sunday night, Hobbs' campaign said, "Katie has led since the first round of ballots were counted, and after tonight's results, it's clear this won't change."
- Lake has not yet responded.
State of play: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto's win in Nevada on Saturday ensured that Democrats will hold their Senate majority, even if Republican Herschel Walker defeats Sen. Raphael Warnock in the December Georgia runoff election.
- Incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly won his U.S. Senate race on Friday over Republican venture capitalist Blake Masters.
- Masters has not yet conceded, issuing a statement on Saturday saying he'll congratulate Kelly on a hard-fought victory if he wins, but that he wants to see the remaining votes counted first.
- The AP also called the secretary of state's race for Democrat Adrian Fontes, who defeated Republican Mark Finchem, a prominent election denier who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Arizona.
Races in the air: Democrat Kris Mayes' lead in the race for attorney general narrowed to just 50.2%-49.8% over Republican Abraham Hamadeh.
- Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction now leads Republican challenger Tom Horne by just 592 votes.
Congress: Republican Rep. David Schweikert took a 50.1%-49.9% lead over Democrat Jevin Hodge in their Phoenix and Scottsdale-based district.
- Republican Juan Ciscomani's lead in the Tucson-based 6th Congressional District grew to just 50.3%-49.7% over Democrat Kirsten Engel. If Ciscomani holds on, he'll flip a Democrat-held seat to the GOP.
