Arizona Democrats, who boosted Lake during her primary, had hoped that her refusal to average her stances, which embody declaring an invasion on the southern border and vowing to implement new abortion bans after the Supreme Courtroom overturned Roe v. Wade in June, would assist Hobbs court docket impartial voters. In Arizona, voters are basically divided into thirds amongst Republicans, Democrats and independents.
Hobbs and her allies centered the marketing campaign on abortion rights, placing Republican-endorsed restrictions on the forefront of their message. However additionally they sought to distinction their plans on inflation and immigration with these of Lake, a political newcomer.
NBC News exit polling bore out Hobbs’ idea of the case, with 58% of Arizona voters feeling both dissatisfied or offended concerning the Supreme Courtroom ruling that overturned Roe V. Wade and 80% of these voters casting ballots for Hobbs.
NBC Information exit polling additionally discovered Hobbs successful the vast majority of impartial voters and 59% of self-described moderates, who made up a plurality of the citizens. Greater than 70% of voters 29 and below, who made up about 12% of the citizens, backed Hobbs, who additionally gained over a better proportion of Republican voters than Lake gained Democrats.
At a Trump rally within the state final month, Lake made it clear she was nonetheless absolutely aligned with the previous president: “I’ve a few of these know-nothing consultants who say, ‘You understand, you really want to again away from President Trump proper now.’ And I say to them, ‘Put down Hunter’s [Biden] crack pipe proper now.’”
Days earlier, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., urged Arizonans at a forum at Arizona State University to not vote for Lake due to her refusal to simply accept the election outcomes ought to she lose, saying that if she lived in Arizona, she would again Hobbs.
Cheney’s PAC put greater than $500,000 towards an advert in Arizona that targeted Lake and fellow election denier Mark Finchem, who ran for secretary of state.
Lake on the time issued a press release thanking Cheney, claiming her advert was doing “simply the alternative” and resulting in extra votes.
“You’re welcome, @KariLake,” Cheney tweeted Monday evening after the election was known as for Hobbs.
In the course of the main, outgoing GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, who drew Trump’s ire for certifying Biden’s 2020 win, condemned Lake and endorsed her Republican opponent, Karrin Taylor Robson. However Ducey and Lake patched up their relationship after her victory, and the Republican Governors Affiliation, which Ducey chairs, spent thousands and thousands to spice up Lake.
Lake seized on Hobbs’ refusal to debate and centered it in her marketing campaign’s closing weeks. She even disrupted the beginning of a discussion board the place each candidates have been supposed to look individually final month, asking that Hobbs come out and debate her, earlier than she agreed to go away the viewers till it was her flip to talk.
Responding to issues from allies about her personal marketing campaign, Hobbs mentioned final month: “I’m out right here. I’m combating.”
NBC Information has already projected that Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and the Democratic nominee for secretary of state, Adrian Fontes, defeated Republicans Blake Masters and state Rep. Mark Finchem, respectively. The battle for legal professional normal, that includes Democrat Kris Mayes and Trump-backed Republican Abraham Hamadeh, remains too close to call.
In regards to the election denial motion, for which Arizona was in some ways floor zero, Hobbs mentioned in an interview forward of Election Day that she noticed little proof such conspiracies would recede after the votes have been counted.
“I feel 2020 was the beginning of this lengthy marketing campaign,” mentioned Hobbs, who pledged to simply accept the outcomes no matter who gained. “And, relying on the result of plenty of these elections, I feel it may worsen, as a result of Kari Lake has already mentioned she is going to solely settle for the end result if she’s the winner. And so I don’t suppose any of those of us are going to go away quietly in the event that they lose their races.”
Zoë Richards and Vaughn Hillyard contributed.
