Katie Hobbs, the Democratic candidate, has won a second term as governor of Arizona. CBS News announced her victory over Republican Andy Biggs after election night.
According to Phoenix New Times, Hobbs held the lead in the polls from the start and won on election night. She ran alongside John Giles, the former mayor of Mesa.
Democrats also led in the races for the state’s other executive offices, though the results were not yet official. According to preliminary data from Maricopa County, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had a lead of nearly 20 points over Republican Alex Kolodin. Attorney General Kris Mayes was getting 59% of the vote to Warren Peterson’s 40%. Treasurer Nick Mansour had 57%, and Teresa Leyba Ruiz, the candidate for superintendent of education, had 56%. If those results hold, Democrats will fill all five of the state’s executive offices for the first time in 70 years.
Preliminary results also indicated that the party could win a majority in both chambers of the state legislature. It last controlled one of them in 1992, when it held a majority in the Senate. The vote count in the legislative races was still continuing.
In Arizona, 4.37 million people were eligible to vote, and more than a third of them had cast ballots by the morning of Election Day. In the Valley of the Sun, some polling places had long lines. At ASU West, 226 people were in line at 7 p.m., when polls closed, and the last of them got inside after two hours and five minutes. Residents also voted on eight statewide ballot measures.
Election officials had assured the public that voting would go smoothly. According to reports, however, there were some incidents. In October, an envelope containing an unknown powder was delivered to the secretary of state’s office, and on Election Day police announced an arrest in the case. Arizona’s results may still change as the remaining ballots are counted.
Source: AZFamily, Arizona Mirror, Phoenix New Times
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