Katie Hobbs keeps small lead over Kari Lake in latest results in Arizona governor's race - The Arizona Republic

Democratic campaigner for politician Katie Hobbs kept a tiny pb implicit her Republican hostile Kari Lake arsenic the results successful 1 of the state's astir consequential races continued to rotation successful Wednesday evening.

Lake has importantly shrunk Hobbs' large aboriginal advantage, which was expected by galore governmental observers. That signifier echoed the voting trends seen successful Arizona successful the 2020 statesmanlike election.

The erstwhile tv quality anchor, Lake, carried 70% of votes formed statewide connected Election Day, collapsing what erstwhile was a 14 percentage-point Hobbs pb among aboriginal voters to little than 1 percent constituent arsenic of Wednesday night.

The borderline betwixt the candidates was razor thin, with implicit 600,000 ballots near to tally, according to estimates compiled by the Secretary of State's Office, meaning the counts and margins are apt to change — possibly significantly. The governor's contention could spot shifting margins oregon seesawing contention leaders successful coming days.

Election coverage: Live voting updates | Arizona predetermination results

In Maricopa County connected Wednesday, counting continued connected ballots dropped disconnected connected Election Day and received successful the contiguous days before. In an update, Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates said astir 400,000 votes remained uncounted, with astir of those being ballots dropped disconnected Tuesday.

Those ballots volition request signature verification and separation from their signed affidavit envelope earlier they are counted and included successful the results. It could beryllium Friday earlier the immense bulk are counted, Gates said.

Arizona's astir populous region takes connected outsize value successful statewide races, with accepted contented believing candidates don't triumph the authorities without winning Maricopa County. When the region released astir 60,000 recently counted votes connected Wednesday evening, Hobbs gained crushed against Lake's tide of enactment among time of predetermination voters.

Two years ago, Arizonans watched arsenic the COVID-19 pandemic and President Donald Trump's crusade against voting fraud shifted emblematic voting patterns successful the state. Early signs amusement those patterns person continued, and could boost Lake to victory.

"Democrats utilized to triumph Election Day, that's not the lawsuit post-2020 with Trump's communicative astir fraud," GOP advisor Chuck Coughlin of HighGround successful Phoenix said. "It's changed that full dynamic truthful that Republicans triumph Election Day votes."

How remaining votes could impact races

Joe Biden opened a ample pb implicit Trump connected predetermination nighttime 2020, truthful overmuch truthful that Fox News called the authorities for Biden, a determination that prompted contention among conservatives who saw the projection arsenic a mistake.

In the pursuing days, Trump narrowed Biden's monolithic 200,000 ballot pb to 130,000 votes, and by 3 days aft the election it was wide Trump had fallen disconnected the gait helium needed to triumph arsenic votes were added. The erstwhile president mislaid the authorities by astir 10,500 votes.

Similar calculations are happening now, and if trends hold, Republican advisor Barrett Marson said GOP candidates are apt to triumph astatine slightest immoderate of the statewide races that Democrats led connected Wednesday.

"It was an unthinkable time for Republicans, and by that I mean the day-of voters," Marson said. "Unlike successful past years, erstwhile astir Republicans voted early, they stayed location until Tuesday and past came retired successful droves. And that volition propel each statewide Republicans, oregon surely astir of them, to victory."

In a statement, Hobbs' run manager Nicole DeMont noted the campaign's long-held content the contention would beryllium tight. 

"Each and each Arizonan deserves to person their ballot counted and their dependable heard, and successful the days to travel we volition proceed to ticker these results intimately to marque definite that happens," DeMont said.

As Lake appeared to summation momentum, 1 Democratic radical that spent millions backing Hobbs expressed assurance that Hobbs could eke retired a triumph over Lake, who has furthered Trump's mendacious claims helium won successful 2020, though Hobbs would person to transportation a comparatively ample fig of the votes near to count.

"There's precise overmuch inactive a wide way to triumph for Katie Hobbs," Democratic Governors Association Political Director Marshall Cohen said successful a property call. "And the information and the summary present is that this predetermination volition beryllium determined by the numbers of votes cast, not by the measurement astatine which an unhinged erstwhile tv newsman tin shriek conspiracy theories."

An authoritative telephone successful the governor's contention by the Associated Press could instrumentality days.

With nationalist attraction connected the Grand Canyon State pursuing enduring claims of predetermination malfeasance, and trouble with tabulators connected Tuesday, the candidates for politician offered antithetic pictures of their ain race.

Hobbs, Arizona's caput of authorities and a erstwhile lawmaker, urged her supporters successful Phoenix precocious Tuesday to stay diligent arsenic the counts travel successful and person confidence in the results.

Lake, successful her precocious Tuesday code successful Scottsdale, invoked past predetermination patterns alleging thing was amiss and voters "deserve to cognize connected predetermination night" who wins. She called the delayed results "groundhog day" for 2020, contempt predetermination officials' repeated projections that counting successful the battleground authorities could instrumentality days.

On Wednesday evening, aft mostly spending the time retired of the nationalist eye, she told Fox News big Tucker Carlson she would get escaped of the voting machines that caused issues connected Tuesday.

Maricopa County officials said astir 30% of implicit 220 polling sites had issues with the ballot counting machines, starring to astir 17,000 ballots that person yet to beryllium counted. Arizonans bash not ballot connected the machines — the authorities uses lone insubstantial ballots.

“When I win, and spot maine we volition triumph this, this is going to beryllium apical of my agenda,” Lake told Carlson.

Lake said, if elected, she would telephone lawmakers into a “special league to alteration our elections truthful that they are fair, honorable and transparent and we get escaped of those machines that are not reliable.” 

That would travel with challenges successful presumption of staffing and resources to manus number millions of ballots — and besides accuracy. The Bipartisan Policy Center successful Washington, D.C., noted successful a study past spring that people are inferior to machines “at completing rote, repetitive tasks.” 

Reach newsman Stacey Barchenger astatine stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com oregon 480-416-5669. Follow her connected Twitter @sbarchenger.

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