Katie Hobbs Defeats Kari Lake in Arizona Governor Race

Republican Kari Lake is an election denier and Trump ally
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 14, 2022 9:04 PM CST
Democrat Katie Hobbs Wins Arizona Governor Race
Protesters leave a makeshift sign in front of the Maricopa County Recorders Office referencing Katie Hobbs, the Democratic candidate for Arizona governor, in Phoenix, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022.   (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Democrat Katie Hobbs was elected Arizona governor on Monday, defeating an ally of former President Trump who falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged and refused to say she would accept the results of her race this year, the AP reports. Hobbs, who is Arizona’s secretary of state, rose to prominence as a staunch defender of the legitimacy of the last election and warned that her Republican rival, former television news anchor Kari Lake, would be an agent of chaos. Hobbs’ victory adds further evidence that Trump is weighing down his allies in a crucial battleground state as the former president gears up for an announcement of a 2024 presidential run.

She will succeed Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who was prohibited by term limits from running again. She’s the first Democrat to be elected governor in Arizona since Janet Napolitano in 2006. A onetime Republican stronghold where Democrats made gains during the Trump era, Arizona has been central to efforts by Trump and his allies to cast doubt on Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory with false claims of fraud. This year, many Trump-endorsed candidates faltered in general elections in battleground states, though his pick in the Nevada governor’s race, Republican Joe Lombardo, defeated an incumbent Democrat.

Pre-election polls showed the race was tied, but Hobbs’ victory was still a surprise to many Democrats who feared her timidity would turn off voters. She overcame expectations in Maricopa and Pima counties, the metro Phoenix and Tucson areas where the overwhelming majority of Arizona voters live. She also spent considerable time in rural areas, looking to minimize her losses in regions that traditionally support Republicans. Lake is well known in much of the state after anchoring the evening news in Phoenix for more than two decades. She ran as a fierce critic of the mainstream media, which she said is unfair to Republicans. She earned Trump’s admiration for her staunch commitment to questioning the results of the 2020 election, a stand she never wavered from even after winning the GOP primary.

(More Katie Hobbs stories.)

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