Democrat Katie Hobbs has been elected governor of Arizona, defeating Republican Kari Lake in one of the nation’s closet gubernatorial races.
The Associated Press called the race Monday evening. With more than 95% of the vote in, Hobbs led with 50.41% of the vote to Lake’s 49.59%, outside the margin of a government-mandated recount.
Lake entered the race with high name recognition from her time as a TV news anchor in Phoenix. She quit her job last year at Fox 10, saying she no longer believed in the direction her industry has taken.
Lake tied herself closely to former President Donald Trump and repeated his false claims the 2020 election was stolen. She won Trump’s endorsement and batted off questions about whether she would consider being his running mate.
Polling showed Lake with an advantage going into Election Day, but the race was considered competitive.
In a statement, Hobbs said she was honored to be elected governor.
“I want to thank the voters for entrusting me with this immense responsibility,” she said. “It is truly an honor of a lifetime, and I will do everything in my power to make you proud.”
On Monday night, Lake tweeted, “Arizonans know BS when they see it.”
Lake’s loss marks the third straight cycle Arizona Republicans aligned with Trump have lost statewide to a moderate Democrat. In 2018, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema defeated Republican Martha McSally to become the state’s first Democratic U.S. senator since 1995. In 2020, Sen. Mark Kelly ran against McSally and won and then-candidate Job Biden narrowly won the state.
Just one statewide Republican, Treasurer Kimberly Yee, won a contested race in Arizona this year. An incumbent, Yee avoided election denialism. When asked by Cronkite News whether she had concerns about election security, she only said addressing voters’ concerns would help them feel their vote was secure.
Other Republican gubernatorial candidates who said the 2020 election was stolen lost their races this year, including Pennsylvania candidate Doug Mastriano and Michigan candidate Tudor Dixon.
Hobbs, a former state lawmaker and current secretary of state, will become Arizona’s fifth female governor, succeeding Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who is term limited. The state has had more female governors than any other state.