The Arizona governorship is flipping from red to blue, according to published reports late Monday evening.
After nearly a week of counting ballots, most of them from Maricopa County, it appears as though Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs will defeat Trump-backed GOP challenger Kari Lake by a thin margin after essentially leading since Election Day.
Decision Desk HQ projects Katie Hobbs (D) elected governor in Arizona.
R to D Flip.#DecisionMade: 8:50pm EST
Follow more results here: https://t.co/erllKAE1oN pic.twitter.com/tPr9aZOKBk
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 15, 2022
The ultimate outcome drew no small amount of suspicion among social media users.
Just remember they planned this 12 days before the election when they aired the results on TV by accident. All they had to do was change the result to make it look close. pic.twitter.com/ybgMmY6ylH
— America LFG 🫡 (@Merica1776yeahp) November 15, 2022
That said, there is no evidence that any foul play occurred, at least at this point.
At one point, it appeared that Hobbs’ campaign suffered from her refusal to meet Lake on a debate stage. Hobbs claimed she did not want to take the time to debate a “conspiracy theorist” who questioned the results of the 2020 election, though a multitude of Democrats questioned Donald Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton, labeling him an “illegitimate president.”
“If Katie Hobbs loses, remember Oct. 12 – the day she ran away from confronting Kari Lake,” Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts wrote. “Democrats in Arizona are known for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but Hobbs’ refusal to debate her opponent … represents a new level of political malpractice.”
Instead, the Hobbs campaign proposed a town hall-style event where each candidate is interviewed separately for 30 minutes. Lake, however, rejected that, as did the Arizona Election Commission.
“Lake, who was backed by former President Donald Trump, won her primary against Karrin Taylor Robson, who was endorsed by sitting Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and former Vice President Mike Pence,” the Daily Wire reported. “Lake, a popular television news anchor for more than two decades, overtook Hobbs in the polls and gained national press for her sometimes combative dealings with the press.”
Following the election call, Lake took to Twitter to express her views on the matter.
“Arizonans know BS when they see it,” she noted in one tweet.
Arizonans know BS when they see it.
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 15, 2022
She also commented on a Post Millennial story from last year noting that Maricopa County election officials launched a political action committee to campaign against MAGA-style Republican candidates.
“Shouldn’t Election Officials be impartial? The guys running the Election have made it their mission to defeat America First Republicans. Unbelievable,” she wrote.
Shouldn’t Election Officials be impartial? The guys running the Election have made it their mission to defeat America First Republicans. Unbelievable. https://t.co/Lz12h9VRX1
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 15, 2022
The story contains a link to the website of a group called Pro-Democracy Republicans. The site states:
The Arizona election wasn’t stolen. We Republicans simply had a presidential candidate who lost, while we had many other candidates who won. It’s time we Republicans accept and acknowledge that fact.
Candidates come and go. But our democratic institutions are long-lasting, and peaceful transitions of power are a hallmark of the United States. We should not abandon this history in favor of conspiracy theorists and demagoguery.
To that end, we are launching this PAC to support pro-democracy Arizona Republicans.
