Democrat Katie Hobbs projected to defeat Kari Lake in Arizona governor's race - The Washington Post

Shortly aft the Associated Press and large networks called the race, six days aft voting ended successful the state, Hobbs issued a tweet declaring victory. “Democracy is worthy the wait,” she wrote. “Thank you, Arizona. I americium truthful honored and truthful arrogant to beryllium your adjacent governor.”

Lake appeared not to judge defeat, casting uncertainty connected the results an hr aboriginal successful a tweet that read, “Arizonans cognize BS erstwhile they spot it.”

On the run trail, Hobbs said she would support termination rights successful Arizona, wherever caller restrictions took effect aft Roe v. Wade was overturned. She besides sought to entreaty to Arizona’s autarkic and mean Republican voters and won immoderate enactment from salient conservatives uncomfortable with the GOP’s direction. A fundraiser for Hobbs featured household members of the precocious Republican legislator John McCain, portion the governmental enactment committee of Rep. Liz Cheney (R), Trump’s loudest GOP professional successful Congress, ran ads against Lake.

But Hobbs’s contention with Lake was choky to the end, arsenic Lake fired up the GOP basal and capitalized connected broader factors moving successful her party’s favor, specified arsenic precocious ostentation and a backlash to national borderline policy. When Hobbs declined to statement Lake — saying Lake wanted a “spectacle” alternatively than a treatment — she drew disapproval from some sides of the aisle.

Much of the Republican constitution successful Arizona worked against Lake successful the GOP primary, backing a much accepted candidate, Karrin Taylor Robson, who did not afloat embrace Trump’s mendacious predetermination claims. And galore disquieted Lake, a Trump loyalist, would suffer a purple authorities known for electing moderates specified arsenic McCain — whom Lake derided. “We drove a involvement done the bosom of the McCain machine,” she declared astatine the Conservative Political Action Conference this year, making a stabbing question for emphasis.

But adjacent critics acknowledged Lake’s charisma, and onetime opponents including Gov. Doug Ducey (R), the co-chair of the Republican Governors Association, yet coalesced down her.

A erstwhile societal idiosyncratic and authorities legislator, Hobbs became Arizona’s caput of authorities successful 2018, flipping the spot bluish for the archetypal clip successful much than 20 years. That enactment her next-in-line if the politician were to permission bureau — and placed her connected the beforehand lines of predetermination officials facing threats and mendacious accusations of wrongdoing successful the aftermath of the 2020 election. Americans came to cognize Hobbs, who became a fixture connected nationalist tv aft that election, arsenic a counterbalance to predetermination denialism successful a authorities that bred unproven theories surrounding Trump’s loss.

As governor, Lake would person played a relation successful certifying the ballot successful a cardinal battleground for 2024. And if she won, Lake was prepared to telephone a peculiar legislative league astatine the authorities Capitol to effort to beforehand sweeping changes to Arizona’s voting systems, which she has derided. She campaigned with different GOP nominees who besides denied the 2020 predetermination results, including far-right caput of authorities campaigner Mark Finchem, who on with Lake sought to prohibition voting machines successful the state. Finchem was projected to suffer past Friday on with Trump-backed GOP Senate nominee Blake Masters, who challenged Sen. Mark Kelly (D).

“We cognize my hostile and her allies person been sowing uncertainty and disorder passim this campaign,” Hobbs said successful a code connected predetermination night, reminding radical that the votes would instrumentality clip to count.

Hobbs’s triumph means that Democrats person gained a nett of 2 governorships, with victories successful Arizona, Maryland and Massachusetts offset by a GOP summation successful Nevada. In swing-state Nevada, Republican sheriff Joe Lombardo ousted Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) portion criticizing his handling of crime, the coronavirus pandemic and the economy. But contempt precocious GOP hopes for adjacent bluish states specified arsenic New York and Oregon, Democratic incumbents held connected successful different places — including successful toss-up races successful Wisconsin, Michigan and Kansas.

Hobbs’s triumph amazed galore Republicans and adjacent immoderate Democrats. Operatives who expected a constrictive triumph by Kelly were nevertheless predicting that Hobbs — who was not a commanding beingness connected the run way — would autumn to the erstwhile quality anchor known wide astir metro Phoenix, location to astir of the state’s voters.

Even arsenic incomplete results posted successful the mediate of past week began to constituent to a triumph for Kelly successful the Senate, GOP modeling inactive enactment Lake up of her Democratic opponent, according to radical acquainted with the numbers. By the weekend, however, the dynamic had shifted, with 1 Lake advisor calling the governor’s contention a “coin toss.”

Republican angst intensified aft results showed Lake did not execute arsenic good arsenic anticipated, peculiarly among autarkic voters, according 1 idiosyncratic acquainted with the conversations who spoke connected the information of anonymity due to the fact that they were not authorized to sermon them publicly.

Lake spent the closing days of the run catering to the GOP basal alternatively than courting independents, a determination that baffled immoderate strategists and donors. More than a 3rd of voters successful Arizona are unaffiliated, according to authorities data, conscionable beneath the stock who place arsenic Republicans and conscionable implicit the stock of Democrats.

She continued to onslaught McCain, asking a crowd, “We don’t person immoderate McCain Republicans successful here, bash we? Get the hellhole out!” She brought Stephen K. Bannon, the erstwhile White House main strategist and enforcement president of Breitbart News, onstage with her and enthused astir his far-right vigor show, “War Room.”

She besides baselessly insinuated that Hillary Clinton was trying to termination her and asked her audiences to applaud for Wendy Rogers, a far-right authorities lawmaker who has promoted achromatic nationalists arsenic “patriots” and called for executing her governmental adversaries, erstwhile remarking, “We request to physique much gallows.”

The attack enthralled crowds of die-hard supporters, but the enthusiasm appears not to person translated into a wide capable conjugation to win.

With ballot counting inactive underway, immoderate Republicans acknowledged that messaging by Trump, Lake, authorities GOP enactment seat Kelli Ward, and others, to ballot successful idiosyncratic oregon to driblet disconnected aboriginal ballots astatine polling locations connected Election Day, whitethorn person affected GOP turnout. The instructions ran antagonistic to the popularity of aboriginal voting successful the authorities and successful the last days of the election, GOP early-ballot show decreased successful Maricopa County.

The GOP strategy relied connected a creaseless medication of the election. Instead, astir a 3rd of polling locations passim the region had problems with printers that nutrient ballots on-demand, mounting disconnected a cascade of unproven accusations from Lake, Trump and different Republicans that the problems disproportionately targeted GOP areas. County officials forcefully pushed backmost and a Washington Post investigation of data recovered that GOP areas successful the region were not disproportionately affected by the problems.

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez successful Phoenix and Amy B Wang successful Washington contributed to this report.