Election denier Lake loses governor’s race in battleground Arizona
(Reuters) - Kari Lake, one of the most high-profile Republican candidates in the midterm elections to embrace former President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in 2020, lost her bid to become the next governor of Arizona, Edison Research projected on Monday.
The closely fought governor’s race between Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs was one of the most significant in the general election because Arizona is a battleground state and is expected to play a pivotal role in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Lake had vowed to ban the state’s mail-in voting, which conspiracy theorists falsely claim is vulnerable to fraud, fueling distrust among voters about the safety of a voting method used by hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Her defeat capped a triumphant week for Democrats, who defied Republicans’ hopes for a “red wave” in the midterm elections.
Democrats retained their control of the U.S. Senate after keeping seats in the swing states of Arizona and Nevada, with Vice President Kamala Harris holding the tie-breaking vote. The party could win outright majority control if Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock beats Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff on Dec. 6, bolstering Democratic sway over committees, bills and judicial picks.
The Democratic victories in a swath of gubernatorial, congressional and statehouse elections defied expectations that voters would punish them for record inflation, including high gas and food prices. Instead, Democrats were able to curb their losses, in part by mobilizing voters angry over the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion.