Kari Lake, who is running for governor of Arizona, speaks to the crowd during a GOP bus tour event just south of Phoenix on Nov 6, 2022. | Photos by David Butow for POLITICO
Since 2020, when Arizona flipped for Biden, thoughts of the swing state have festered in the minds of election deniers. And now, once again, the election there is careening towards an uncertain finish. While the predictions of a scorching red wave sweeping the country have fizzled — and Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly has defeated Republican Blake Masters — only several thousand votes separate gubernatorial candidates in the battle for Arizona.
But more than a governorship is at stake in Arizona, which became a hotbed for misinformation in 2020 and beyond. There, whoever ends up in the governor’s mansion could either work to normalize false claims of a Trump win on a grander stage, or finally put it all to rest. Either way, what happens in Arizona will likely have wide implications in the 2024 election, which may see President Biden and former President Donald Trump in a rematch.
Republican Kari Lake, the one-time newscaster who unabashedly ties her race to what she describes as a stolen presidential election, has become Trump’s brightest star in an otherwise disappointing midterm season for the MAGA GOP. While Arizona’s Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs held a mighty lead in the polls throughout the campaign, Lake has been able to chip away to a near-even match-up after Election Day. Now, as the votes are being counted, the question becomes: Will enough voters galvanize behind Lake to propel her to the governor's office? Or could this be the last stand of election denialism in the country?
Sunday, November 6, 2022
At a GOP campaign event the weekend before the election, supporters say the pledge of allegiance before Senate hopeful Blake Masters and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake arrive on the scene. Masters removed wording related to the 2020 election on his campaign website and ultimately lost his Senate bid to Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly.
Monday, November 7, 2022
Lake, who hopes to be Arizona's next Republican governor, speaks to supporters at a campaign gathering in a North Phoenix church. She has been one of Trump's loudest supporters in the claim that the election was stolen. Republican Mark Finchem, who ended up losing his race for Secretary of State, and Masters have echoed Trump's claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Finchem, a House member of the Arizona state legislature, was also present at the Jan. 6 insurrection. Poll workers in Maricopa County have dealt with increased scrutiny due to the hotbed of misinformation that roiled the state regarding the 2020 election results. Conspiracy theorists have also blamed poll workers for President Biden's victory in 2020, and the misinformation ultimately culminated in an audit led by the state legislature, or the so-called "fraudit." The results of the investigation eventually widened Biden's win by 360 votes.
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Election conspiracies had proliferated in the state, so much so that armed activists were discovered monitoring polling sites in an effort to document voter fraud. Voting rights organizations decried it as voter intimidation, and a federal judge banned armed protestors from standing near drop boxes. Teresa Brice, a volunteer with the non-partisan national organization Election Protection, sits outside of a polling center in downtown Phoenix. She provides information and helps voters with accessibility questions. Voters in Maricopa County wait in line outside of a polling station late in the afternoon on Election Day. Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, is home to more than 60 percent of voters in the state. About 20% of polling locations in Maricopa County were experiencing technical difficulties during the opening hours of Election Day, according to Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Gates. Gates, who is a Republican, told voters in a video online that they could instead slide their ballot into a secure box under the tabulator. At the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, ballots are separated from envelopes and prepared for counting. Two workers with different political affiliations sit together and tally the votes in case a ballot is in dispute. A security guard at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center keeps a watchful eye on cameras in the warehouse where ballots will arrive on Election Day. Law enforcement officers stand guard in front of the county’s election tabulation headquarters in anticipation of possible protests after polls closed on Election Day. The center was set to receive ballots and electronic voting data throughout the night. Law enforcement officers in Maricopa County spent Election Day on high alert. Other than patrolling tabulation headquarters at night, officers were discreetly monitoring voting sites in case violence would erupt. After polls closed, Republican supporters gather for an election night party at a Scottsdale resort. A singer and a crew member do a soundcheck early in the evening at the GOP election night party in a ballroom at a resort in Scottsdale. The mood is light and optimistic as Republican voters gather in Scottsdale before the election results start to trickle in. Gates, who oversaw the election, speaks to the media on the night of the election about troubles with printing ballots earlier in the day. Although he explained how the printing issue at 60 voting centers had been resolved, it was already too late to prevent more conspiracy theories from taking shape.
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Twenty-four hours after polls closed in Arizona, the Governor's race between Lake and Hobbs remained neck-and-neck. Will voter animus toward Trump affect Lake’s chances for the governor’s office?
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