Election denier Kari Lake loses Arizona governor race
STORY: Another high-profile loss for Republicans coming out of the U.S. midterms, in Arizona late Monday.
Kari Lake failed in her bid to become the next governor of Arizona, according to MSNBC and Edison research.
It had been a closely-watched test of candidates who, like Lake, were backed by former President Donald Trump and embraced his false claims of voter fraud in 2020.
Lake was beaten by Democrat Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s current secretary of state.
The race drew national attention because Arizona is a battleground state and is expected to play a key role in the 2024 presidential election.
In her campaign, Lake had vowed to ban the state's mail-in voting, which conspiracy theorists claim without evidence is at risk of fraud.
The issue has fueled distrust among voters about the safety of a voting method used by hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Her defeat capped a triumphant week for the Democratic Party, as it defied Republicans‘ hopes for a so-called "red wave" in the midterms.
The Democrats retained their control of the Senate, after keeping seats in the swing states of Arizona and Nevada over the weekend, with Vice President Kamala Harris holding the tie-breaking vote.
The party could even win an outright majority if Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock beats Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff on Dec. 6.
That would bolster Democratic sway over committees, bills and judicial picks.
But Republicans are still edging toward control of the House of Representatives.
As of Monday, the party had won 212 seats, just six shy of a majority.
The Democrats have 206 seats so far, with the vote count continuing for fewer than 20 seats.
