Election 2022 in Arizona: Mark Kelly defeats Blake Masters, wins reelection to Senate

We're still counting, Arizona.

In Maricopa County, elections officials were working 14 to 18 hours a day to process the results of Tuesday's election. They will keep at it through Veterans Day weekend to verify and count a record number of ballots dropped off at the county's vote centers Tuesday.

The county released an updated results count Friday evening. Going into Saturday, there are roughly 275,00 ballots left to tally in the county. Statewide, there are about 370,000 ballots to count.

For the latest news, follow our weekend coverage.

Here's a recap of Thursday's election events.

What to know: Arizona's highest-profile races still up for grabs 

Kelly reelected to U.S. Senate

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat, has been reelected, according to The Associated Press. He beat Republican Blake Masters.

“From day one, this campaign has been about the many Arizonans — Democrats, Independents, and Republicans — who believe in working together to tackle the significant challenges we face," Kelly said in a statement Friday evening. "It’s been one of the great honors of my life to serve as Arizona’s Senator. I’m humbled by the trust our state has placed in me to continue this work.”

Hobbs holds lead over Lake

Democratic nominee for governor Katie Hobbs kept her lead over GOP nominee Kari Lake as the tight contest remained too close to call on Friday evening.

Fontes elected Arizona secretary of state

Democrat Adrian Fontes has been elected Arizona's next secretary of state. The Associated Press called the race Friday evening.

"I plan to be a solid secretary of state for every Arizonan, not just for those who share my party affiliation," Fontes said.

The race pitted Fontes, who oversaw the 2020 presidential election as Maricopa County recorder, against Republican Mark Finchem, a four-term state lawmaker and arguably the loudest election denier in the state.

10:35 p.m.: Updated results on the 10 ballot measures

Pass and fail calls on the propositions were made by The Associated Press.

• Proposition 128: Failed. The proposition would have allowed the Legislature to change ballot measures that voters approve, or to divert funds from them if either the Arizona Supreme Court or U.S. Supreme Court determined a measure to be unconstitutional.

• Proposition 129: “Yes” leading “no” following Friday’s ballot updates. The proposition would require future voter initiatives to cover only one subject and would require a description of that subject in the title. Any portion of such an initiative not addressed in the title would be void, even if approved by voters.

• Proposition 130: Passed. The proposition allows property tax exemptions for veterans with disabilities, people with total and permanent disabilities, widows and widowers, regardless of when they became Arizona residents.

• Proposition 131: “Yes” leading “no” following Friday’s ballot updates. The proposition would change the Arizona Constitution to create the position of lieutenant governor.

• Proposition 132: “Yes” leading “no” following Friday’s ballot updates. The proposition would require 60% of voters to approve any new tax via a ballot measure.

• Proposition 209: Passed. The proposition lowers the interest rate cap on medical debt and increases the value of assets protected from certain creditors.

• Proposition 211: Passed. The proposition requires disclosure of the donors who currently can give to an umbrella organization for political advertisements and not have their names reported.

• Proposition 308: “Yes” leading “no” following Friday’s ballot updates. The proposition would allow any college student, regardless of their legal status in the U.S., to qualify for in-state tuition if they graduated from an Arizona high school and have lived in the state for two years prior.

• Proposition 309: “No” leading “yes” following Friday’s ballot updates. The proposition would tighten identification requirements for voters, both those who vote by mail and those who vote at the polls on Election Day.

• Proposition 310: “No” was leading “yes” following Friday’s ballot updates. The proposition would establish a Fire District Safety Fund through a sales tax increase of one-tenth of 1%.

10:25 p.m.: Phoenix City Council races still too close to call

Phoenix's two competitive City Council contests were too close to call Friday evening. The unofficial tallies showed tight races that could lead to runoff contests.

District 8 incumbent Carlos Garcia was narrowly leading challenger Kesha Hodge Washington to represent part of south Phoenix.

Kevin Robinson remained in the lead in the open field of eight candidates vying to replace term-limited Sal DiCiccio in District 6. Trailing by a small margin behind Robinson were Sam Stone and Joan Greene.

If the return patterns hold, the two top candidates in both races will head to a runoff in March. Runoffs occur when no single candidate gets more than 50% of the vote.

10:15 p.m.: Councilmember Duff and $157 million bond winning in Mesa

Mesa voters were comfortably approving a $157 million bond request for public safety and three ballot questions on how the city operates, as well as returning Councilmember Jenn Duff to office, after more early ballots were counted Friday.

Duff’s lead grew over challenger Trista Guzman Glover to represent District 4, which covers central and downtown Mesa.  Already this week, Mayor John Giles had declared Duff the winner and congratulated her.

Giles also claimed victory for all ballot measures in a tweet Wednesday. He thanked voters for approving "investments in public safety and essential services."

— Maritza Dominguez

9:55 p.m.: Yee reelected Arizona treasurer

Kimberly Yee, the incumbent treasurer and a former state lawmaker, was reelected over Democrat Martín Quezada, a state senator, according to The Associated Press.

Yee was seeking another four years in office. She was the first Asian American candidate to win statewide office in Arizona when she was elected in 2018. Quezada has said he ran to improve a statewide office that is too often used as a steppingstone for politicians.

9:45 p.m.: Buchli leading Spence in Gilbert Town Council race

Bobbi Buchli held a slim lead over Bill Spence in a runoff for an open seat on Gilbert's Town Council after more votes were counted Friday.

Spence is a retired Navy lieutenant commander and nuclear engineering officer who served as an appointed Town Council member in 2020. Buchli is a real estate broker.

— Maritza Dominguez

9:40 p.m.: Jason Beck leading in Peoria mayoral race

Businessman Jason Beck held a slim lead over longtime Councilmember Bridget Binsbacher in the race for Peoria mayor Friday evening.

For the council races, challenger Jennifer Crawford held a lead over incumbent Vicki Hunt in the race for the council seat representing the Acacia District in south Peoria. Incumbent Brad Shafer led challenger Diane Douglas for the council seat representing north Peoria's Mesquite District.

— Corina Vanek

9:30 p.m.: 3 Maricopa County judges behind in retention elections

Following Friday evening's Maricopa County ballot update, 44 out of 47 judges were trending to win their retention elections.

Judges Stephen Hopkins, Howard Sukenic and Rusty Crandell were the three with a majority of voters so far saying they should be booted out of court. All three lost ground in Friday's tally.

Hopkins is behind by about 204,000 votes.

He was the only Maricopa County Superior Court judge on the ballot who did not meet performance standards, according to an independent state panel that publishes reviews. Hopkins was also the only judge facing voters who had been reprimanded, in June.

Sukenic needed to make up about 143,000 votes. Crandell was behind by around 30,000 votes.

The only judge to lose a retention election in Maricopa County since 2000 was Superior Court Judge Benjamin Norris, who failed to get enough votes in 2014. There has never been an election where three judges lost their jobs.

— Miguel Torres

9:15 p.m.: Two Arizona congressional races still undecided

Two U.S. House races remain undecided:

• 1st Congressional District: Democrat Jevin Hodge led incumbent Republican David Schweikert.

• 6th Congressional District: Republican Juan Ciscomani led Democrat Kirsten Engel.

The following U.S. House races have been called by The Associated Press:

• Republican Eli Crane defeated incumbent Democrat Tom O'Halleran in the race for Arizona's 2nd Congressional District.

• Incumbent Democrat Ruben Gallego beat Republican Jeff Zink in the 3rd Congressional District.

• Incumbent Democrat Greg Stanton beat Republican Kelly Cooper in the 4th Congressional District.

• Incumbent Republican Andy Biggs won the 5th Congressional District contest, where he faced Democrat Javier Ramos and independent Clint Smith.

• Incumbent Democrat Raúl Grijalva beat Republican Luis Pozzolo in the 7th Congressional District race.

Republicans Debbie Lesko and Paul Gosar ran unopposed in Congressional Districts 8 and 9, respectively.

9 p.m.: Maricopa County official calls criticism from Republicans ‘political stunt’

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates responded to criticism from the Republican Party Friday evening, calling it “one more political stunt to try and distract us.”

“Republican lawmakers helped craft the election laws that Maricopa County follows, so it is surprising the party is critical of those laws,” said Gates, a Republican.

He said the county has been transparent and that the vote tallying process is progressing as normal.

“Changing processes or adding untrained personnel would only slow the counting at this point and we will not deny the voters of Maricopa County an accurate tabulation of their votes,” Gates said.

The statement came days after the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit to keep polls in Maricopa County open for three extra hours on Election Day, arguing that issues with voting equipment and erroneous instructions from poll workers prevented them from voting.

In the time since, several Republican candidates and personalities have attacked the county for counting too slowly, including gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who has described the counting process in interviews as "embarrassing" and compared the handling of ballots in the county to a banana republic.

— Sasha Hupka

8:45 p.m.: Stanton reelected to U.S. House

Incumbent Rep. Greg Stanton has been reelected over Republican entrepreneur Kelly Cooper in the 4th Congressional District.

Stanton, D-Ariz., is a two-term House member and former mayor of Phoenix.

As part of his reelection pitch, Stanton touted legislation passed under the Biden administration: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. The laws are beneficial for the district and state's economy, Stanton said.

The newly drawn 4th Congressional District includes parts of Tempe, Mesa, Phoenix and Chandler.

The Associated Press called the race Friday evening.

8:35 p.m.: Hoffman maintains lead over Horne in superintendent race

Incumbent Democrat Kathy Hoffman kept her lead in the race for superintendent of public instruction following ballot tallies released Friday night by Maricopa County.

Hoffman continues to lead former superintendent and anti-bilingual education crusader Tom Horne by a tight margin.

The role of superintendent is largely an administrative job, not a policy-creation one.

Arizona’s superintendent can shake up educational priorities through public comment and by lobbying the Legislature, but the role’s sphere of influence centers on pursuits like overseeing teacher certification, doling out funds, and executing state and federal education laws.

— Yana Kunichoff

8:35 p.m.: Mitchell keeps lead in Maricopa County attorney's race

In the race for Maricopa County attorney, Republican Rachel Mitchell is leading Democrat Julie Gunnigle 52% to 48% following the county's Friday evening tally.

Voters faced a choice between two divergent approaches to criminal justice in the Maricopa County attorney's race.

It pitted Mitchell, the current county attorney who was appointed after the resignation of Allister Adel, against Gunnigle, an outsider and critic of the agency.

8:25 p.m.: Mayes holds lead in attorney general race

Democrat Kris Mayes held her lead over Republican Abe Hamadeh in the race to become Arizona's next attorney general following ballot tallies released Friday night by Maricopa County.

7:45 p.m.: Election denier Wendy Rogers assigned to chair new Senate election committee

Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, one of the Arizona Legislature’s most prolific supporters of election conspiracies, said on Friday that she was named as the next chair of her chamber's election committee.

“Arizona WILL NOW get its house in order with Governor @KariLake to ratify Election Integrity bills via Special Session come January 2023,” Rogers posted on social media Friday, signing off with hashtags #LockAndLoad and #State48.

Another post on Friday from Rogers said, “Everything that happens in our elections should be subject to an audit with stiff penalties for violators.”

It’s not yet certain that Republicans will still control the Senate when all of the votes are counted from Tuesday’s election. Ballot counting is expected to continue into next week, with several critical Senate races at stake that could change the chamber’s balance of power for the first time in 22 years.

Sen. Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, who was voted in as next year’s new Senate president on Thursday, assigned Rogers to the new duty. He also is apparently creating a Senate Election Committee, since election legislation is usually handled by the Senate Government Committee.

Petersen declined to elaborate on Friday, saying he was preparing a news release for Monday that would have information about Rogers' position and other Senate committee chair assignments.

Rogers has remained a controversial figure since she was elected to her first term in 2020 after 10 years of unsuccessful tries. She was censured for online comments and targeted in an ethics investigation by both Republican and Democrat senators earlier this year.

During the legislative session that ended this summer, Rogers proposed getting rid of early voting and mail voting except for overseas military personnel and disabled voters, banning machines from the election process and requiring all votes to get counted by hand. Those and other far-reaching proposals by Rogers failed out of the gate when they couldn’t get a committee hearing.

With Rogers as the election committee chair, such ideas are all but guaranteed a hearing.

Sen. Martín Quezada, D-Phoenix, who served on the government committee this year, said Rogers would be a “step down” in quality from the current chair, Sen. Kelly Townsend, R-Apache Junction, even though Townsend’s also an election denier. Rogers beat Townsend in the August primary.

“Wendy Rogers comes from a different place,” he said. “It’s going to be the wild, wild West again.”

— Ray Stern

6:05 p.m.: No powder found in envelope taken from Lake's campaign office

Phoenix police confirmed Friday that no powder was found inside an envelope sent to Kari Lake’s campaign office on Nov. 5.

Ross Trumble, a spokesperson for the Lake campaign, told The Republic that a campaign staffer opened an envelope delivered to the office near 40th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix that contained "suspicious white powder."

The envelopes were sent to a state lab for testing, according to Phoenix police.

“The state lab tested the items turned over to them,” said Donna Rossi, communications director for Phoenix Police Department. The lab "determined there was no substance inside.”

The Lake campaign has yet to respond to a request for comment.

— Lillian Boyd

5:50 p.m.: Maricopa County can process 60,000 to 80,000 ballots daily

Maricopa County officials said they are “running about at capacity” as they continue to count outstanding ballots.

Given tabulator capacity and staffing, the county can tally between 60,000 to 80,000 ballots each day, officials said.

That’s roughly in line with recent result drops, which have been coming daily.

Thursday saw nearly 79,000 ballots added to election results from Maricopa County, and officials said they expect to drop around the same amount Friday evening.

— Sasha Hupka

4:35 p.m.: Maricopa County expects to add about 80,000 ballots tonight

An estimated 80,000 ballots will be added to Maricopa Country election results at about 8 p.m. Friday, county officials said.

More than 50% of those results will include ballots that were dropped off on Election Day, officials said during a Friday afternoon news conference.

It’ll be the first drop including those results, which could serve as a bellwether for campaigns eagerly waiting to see if voting patterns from 2020, which saw Republicans make strong gains as ballots dropped off on Election Day were tabulated.

A record number of voters in Maricopa County — about 290,000 — dropped off their ballots on Election Day, which has delayed the counting, county officials have said.

Ballots added to the count Friday night will take the remaining uncounted ballots to less than 300,000, county officials said, and the counting of those ballots is expected to continue over the weekend and may be complete "early next week."

In the meantime, Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates sought to push back on the idea that the counting process is taking longer than normal.

“For folks who have covered Arizona politics for a while, this is very, very common,” he said. “I know people are very anxious to get the results, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary here.”

The process generally takes 10 to 12 days, officials said.

“I’m going to stand up for my state,” Gates said. “We’re doing things the right way.”

Arizona's second-most populous county, Pima, will have about 90,000 ballots left to count after today. County officials hope to wrap up tabulating early next week.

Pima County plans to update results each night at 6 p.m. and, like Maricopa County, will be working through the weekend.

— Sasha Hupka, Stephanie Innes and Stacey Barchenger

4 p.m.: Maricopa County officials provide update

Maricopa County will provide an update on the ballot tabulation process ahead of Friday night's ballot drop.

The news conference can be seen below.

3:50 p.m.: Corporation commissioner clarifies his remarks about hand count

Corporation Commissioner Jim O’Connor said that a text he sent to media and friends Friday morning calling for a hand count of Maricopa County ballots was done in his capacity as a voter, not as part of his duties as a state utility regulator.

He said some people were confused because he had addressed the text to “Rachel,” which some inferred as being a message to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. It wasn’t, O’Connor said Friday afternoon.

He said he was asked about the issue by another media outlet and decided to share his response with a group of friends and media.

In an afternoon interview with The Arizona Republic, he said he is frustrated by the way elections are currently run in the county.

“I think any voter with a head on their shoulders would like to once again be able to trust the election process as we were able to years ago under the leadership of Helen Purcell, where Democrats and Republicans felt comfortable with the election process and with the election count,” he said.

 — Ryan Randazzo

1:40 p.m.: Corporation commissioner seeks hand count in Maricopa County

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Jim O’Connor on Friday sent a reporter a text message that called for a full hand recount of Maricopa County ballots to be overseen by the Attorney General’s Office.

The Corporation Commission’s primary duties include setting rates and policies for utilities such as Arizona Public Service Co.

His text Friday was addressed to “Rachel,” and it’s unclear if the reporter, who is not named Rachel, was the intended recipient.

O’Connor, who previously sought to abandon the use of voting machines in Maricopa County, did not respond to questions Friday sent via text, voicemail and to his policy advisor and the spokesman for the Corporation Commission.

"I join the voters of Maricopa County requesting the immediate resignations of the entire Board of Supervisors and the County Recorder for their gross negligence and maladministration of our 2022 General Election,” O’Connor’s text began, citing Election Day problems with tabulators in the county.

"It's time to initiate a full 100% HAND COUNT of ALL Maricopa County Ballots. To be clear, the people now demand HAND COUNT, not another fake audit in which fraudulent ballots are recounted.”

His message suggested Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Wright oversee the hand count. The Attorney General’s Office could not be reached on the Friday holiday.

O’Connor’s message continued:

“If we operate under the principle that ‘We the People’ elect men and women to office BY THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED; then note our consent is WITHHELD until the results of HAND COUNTS in every race is conducted under the supervision of the TRUSTED Deputy AG noted above."

Cochise County Supervisors tried to implement a full hand count of ballots this year, but a judge said that plan was not legal and the state Supreme Court declined to intervene.

Republicans, including O’Connor, hold a 3-2 majority on the Corporation Commission. Republicans on the ballot this year are in the lead for two seats to be decided by the 2022 election. Should their leads hold, O’Connor could be nominated chairman of the commission next year.

— Ryan Randazzo

1:30 p.m.: Maricopa County will have an election update at 4 p.m.

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman Bill Gates will provide an update on election ballot tabulation and an upcoming hand count audit at 4 p.m. Friday, county officials said.

Gates will also answer questions from credentialed media, officials said.

County officials say a livestream of the event will be available "subject to bandwidth issues" at https://www.youtube.com/maricopacountyaz

If the livestream does not work as intended, county officials say they will post a recorded version of the full press conference to YouTube on Friday evening.

During the update, Maricopa County will have a Spanish speaker present to answer specific questions from Spanish-language media.

— Stephanie Innes

Noon: Arizona Supreme Court rejects Cochise County hand count appeal

The Arizona Supreme court has turned down Cochise County’s request to accept its ballot hand count appeal.

It’s a blow to the county’s hopes of hand-counting every ballot cast in this month’s election.

In an order signed by Justice William Montgomery, the court denied the request for a transfer of its appeal.

Earlier this week, a superior court judge ruled that the county’s plan was not authorized by law and granted a request to block the count from going forward.

Cochise officials turned to the Supreme Court for relief, arguing there wasn’t enough time to take it through the normal appeals channels.

 — Mary Jo Pitzl

11:40 a.m.: Deasy concedes to Daggett in Flagstaff mayor's race

Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy conceded to challenger Becky Daggett on Friday in the city's race for mayor in the midterm election.

Fewer than 4,000 votes separated the two candidates as of Friday morning, and Coconino County still has about 12,000 votes left to count, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

Depending on how the votes land, the race could still change significantly. But Deasy, a statistician by trade, doesn't think a 20-point swing is realistic considering how the votes have gone so far this week.

Daggett, Flagstaff's former vice mayor, continued to lead the race since preliminary results were released on Tuesday night.

"Congratulations to the incoming Flagstaff City Council. It’s been an honor being Mayor this last term," he wrote in a Twitter post on Friday morning. "I look forward to serving our community in other ways and spending more time with my children."

Looking back on his two-year term, Deasy said he is most proud of securing unprecedented funding for the city's stormwater infrastructure and implementing the C.A.R.E. Team, which manages 911 calls related to mental health and substance abuse without the need for a police presence.

— Lacey Latch

11 a.m.: Arizona has 518,034 uncounted ballots, state says

As of Friday morning, there were an estimated 518,034 election ballots still to be counted in Arizona, the Secretary of State's Office said.

The county breakdown:

• Maricopa: 353,885 ballots.

• Pima: 114,203 ballots.

• Yavapai: 12,458 ballots.

• Coconino: 12,231 ballots.

• Yuma: 9,180 ballots.

• Cochise: 8,662 ballots.

• Navajo: 5,443 ballots.

• La Paz: 1,972 ballots.

Ballot counting was expected to extend through the weekend.

— Anne Ryman

10:30 a.m.: O'Halleran concedes Congressional District 2 race to Crane

Democratic Congressman Tom O'Halleran on Friday conceded the race to represent Arizona's 2nd Congressional District to Republican challenger Eli Crane.

"I want to thank the hardworking Arizonans that made calls, knocked doors, and engaged voters — especially the unparalleled staff on Team O’Halleran," he said in a statement.

O'Halleran was seeking his fourth term in Congress after redistricting and ran to represent an area that is much more Republican than his current 1st Congressional District.

"There’s no denying that my team and I are incredibly disappointed in these results, but I thank the families of Arizona's First District for giving me the opportunity to serve you these last six years," he said.

"I thank my opponent for a well-fought and challenging race and wish him all the best in his service to Arizona’s Second District."

— Lacey Latch.

8 a.m.: Crane ousts O'Halleran, joins House delegation

One major race was decided Thursday: Republican Eli Crane defeated three-term incumbent Rep. Tom O'Halleran in the 2nd Congressional District, which sprawls across much of northern and eastern Arizona.

Crane, a businessman and former Navy SEAL, says on his website that combating voting fraud and illegal immigration are major priorities. He is endorsed by former President Donald Trump and supports the Trump-style Make America Great Again, or MAGA, platform.

O'Halleran, the co-chair of the moderate Democrat Blue Dog Caucus, won his seat in the 2016 elections and was reelected in 2018 and 2020. He served in the Arizona Senate from 2006 to 2009 and in the Arizona House of Representatives between 2001 and 2006 as a Republican. He left the GOP in 2014.

Democrats have held a majority of Arizona's House seats, but the next congressional delegation is likely to consist of either six Republicans and three Democrats or five Republicans and four Democrats.

— Tara Kavaler

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Election 2022 in Arizona: Recap from across the state