Los Angeles Times

Hobbs beats Trump ally in Arizona election

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PHOENIX — Democrat Katie Hobbs was elected Arizona governor on Monday, defeating an ally of Donald Trump who falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged and refused to say she would accept the results of her race this year.

Hobbs, who is Arizona’s secretary of state, rose to prominence as a staunch defender of the legitimacy of the last election and warned that her Republican rival, former television news anchor Kari Lake, would be an agent of chaos. Hobbs’ victory adds further evidence that Trump is weighing down his allies in a crucial battlegrou­nd state as the former president gears up for an announceme­nt of a 2024 presidenti­al run.

She will succeed Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who was prohibited by term limit laws from running again. She’s the first Democrat to be elected governor in Arizona since Janet Napolitano in 2006.

A onetime Republican stronghold where Democrats made gains during the Trump era, Arizona has been central to efforts by Trump and his allies to cast doubt on Joe Biden’s 2020 presidenti­al victory with false claims of fraud. This year, many Trump-endorsed candidates faltered in general elections in battlegrou­nd states, though his pick in the Nevada governor’s race, Republican Joe Lombardo, defeated an incumbent Democrat.

Before entering politics, Hobbs was a social worker who worked with homeless youth and an executive with a large domestic violence shelter in the Phoenix area. She was elected to the state Legislatur­e in 2010, serving one term in the House and three terms in the Senate and rising to minority leader.

Hobbs eked out a narrow win in 2018 as secretary of state and was thrust into the center of a political storm as Arizona became the centerpiec­e of the efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost. She appeared constantly on cable news defending the integrity of the vote count.

The attention enabled her to raise millions of dollars and raise her profile. When she announced her campaign for governor, other prominent Democrats declined to run and Hobbs comfortabl­y won her primary.

She ran a cautious campaign, sticking largely to scripted and choreograp­hed public appearance­s. She declined to participat­e in a debate with Lake, contending that Lake would turn it into a spectacle by spouting conspiracy theories and making false accusation­s.

She bet instead that voters would recoil against Lake, who picked verbal fights with journalist­s as cameras rolled and struck a combative tone toward Democrats and even the establishm­ent Republican­s who have long dominated state government.

Pre-election polls showed the race was tied, but Hobbs’ victory was a surprise to many Democrats who feared her timidity would turn off voters. She overcame expectatio­ns in Maricopa and Pima counties, the metro Phoenix and Tucson areas where the overwhelmi­ng majority of Arizona voters live. She also spent considerab­le time in rural areas, looking to minimize her losses in regions that traditiona­lly support Republican­s.

Lake is well-known in much of the state after anchoring the evening news in Phoenix for more than two decades. She ran as a fierce critic of the mainstream media, which she said is unfair to Republican­s. She earned Trump’s admiration for her staunch commitment to questionin­g the results of the 2020 election.

She baselessly accused election officials of slowrollin­g the vote count this year and prioritizi­ng Democratic ballots as she narrowly trailed Hobbs for days after the election.

 ?? Ross D. Franklin Associated Press ?? DEMOCRAT Katie Hobbs’ gubernator­ial victory f lips the onetime Republican stronghold.
Ross D. Franklin Associated Press DEMOCRAT Katie Hobbs’ gubernator­ial victory f lips the onetime Republican stronghold.

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