The Arizona gubernatorial race could be headed to a recount after the lead Katie Hobbs holds narrowed further on Nov. 14.
Hobbs, the Democrat secretary of state, was up over Republican Kari Lake by about 26,000 votes on Sunday. That lead narrowed to 19,382 with newly reported results on Monday.
Hobbs declared victory and a number of media outlets have called the race for her.
“Democracy is worth the wait. Thank you, Arizona. I am so honored and so proud to be your next Governor,” Hobbs said in a statement.
But Lake, a former TV anchor, is not conceding.
“Arizonans know BS when they see it,” she said in a statement.
The current margin is tight, with Hobbs having 50.4 percent of the vote to Lake’s 49.6 percent.
Under state law, a recount triggers when the margin is less than or equal to 0.5 percent.
The law was changed in May from 0.1 percent.
Arizona Republican Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, the Republican who sponsored the change, said that it would “improve voter confidence in election results.”
More than 28,000 midterm ballots still need to be counted in Arizona, according to an unofficial tally from the office of Hobbs, who refused to recuse herself from overseeing the election.
Lake has been gaining ground in the last several dumps, which come from multiple counties, including Maricopa County.
On Saturday, Lake gained 3,614 more votes than Hobbs. On Sunday, Lake saw a net gain of nearly 9,000 votes. On Monday, she gained 6,629 more votes than Hobbs.
Of the remaining ballots, about 16,000 are in Maricopa, the state’s largest, 8,209 are in Pinal County, 7,427 are in Pima County, 6,767 are in Apache County, 4,326 are in Cochise County, 2,343 are in Navajo County, 1,571 are in Coconino County, 750 are in Yavapai County, 670 are in Yuma County, and 55 are in Gila County.
Lake is trying to win in an election that saw Republicans do worse than predicted in races on the state and federal level.
In Arizona, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) beat challenger Blake Masters and Democrat Adrian Fontes beat Republican Mark Finchem in the race to succeed Hobbs.
Republican Kimberly Lee trumped Democrat Martin Quezada in the state treasurer race.
Several other races could be headed to recounts.
In the race for Arizona attorney general, Democrat Kris Mayes was leading by just 0.2 percent over Republican Abraham Hamadeh following the latest reporting. And Republican Tom Horne was leading Democrat Kathy Hoffman by just 0.2 percent in the race for superintendent of public instruction.
Mayes on Monday urged voters to “cure” ballots, or fix signature issues with a ballot so it would be counted, before the 5 p.m. Nov. 16 deadline.
“Feeling blessed that all my supporters are working overtime to cure ballots and ensuring every vote is counted. Thank you,” Hamadeh said in a statement.
From The Epoch Times
