Arizona Democrat Katie Hobbs elected governor over Trump-backed Republican Kari Lake

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs speaks at a roundtable event in Phoenix, Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. Hobbs was elected Arizona governor on Monday, Nov. 14 defeating Republican rival Kari Lake. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

After days of ballot counting, Arizona Democrat Katie Hobbs has been elected governor in a hotly-contested race against election-denying Republican Kari Lake, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, according to a race call by The Associated Press.

The victory is a relief to Arizona Democrats, who spent much of the campaign wringing their hands over whether Hobbs — the current Secretary of State in Arizona — could defeat the made-for-TV Lake, who spent 22 years at a local Fox affiliate, much of it as a news anchor.

Most polls ahead of the elections showed Lake with a slight lead in the race. Lake showed a knack for garnering headlines while antagonizing reporters in her first-ever campaign. She ran on an unabashedly pro-Trump agenda – promising to declare an invasion along the southern border and voicing support for the state’s pre-statehood abortion ban – alongside a slate of Trump-endorsed candidates who won their primaries in the swing state of Arizona.