Katie Hobbs defeats Kari Lake, NBC News projects
Democratic candidate for Governor of Arizona Katie Hobbs reacts at a 2022 U.S. midterm elections night party in Phoenix, Arizona, November 8, 2022.
Jim Urquhart | Reuters
Democrat Katie Hobbs won the race for governor of Arizona, NBC News projected.
Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state, defeated Republican nominee Kari Lake, a former television news anchor.
Hobbs ran a low-key campaign against Lake, a leading denier of the legitimacy of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Hobbs refused to debate Lake, saying she did not want to give the GOP nominee the opportunity to spread conspiracy theories. She accused Lake of being “only interested in creating a spectacle,” while Lake called Hobbs a “coward” for not debating.
Arizona was a crucial battleground state in the 2020 election. Former President Donald Trump, who backed Lake’s candidacy, lost the state and the national vote to President Joe Biden.
Hobbs defended Arizona’s election system against efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results there.
Lake in an interview with CNN last month repeatedly refused to say she would accept the results of the election for governor if she lost.