Kari Lake - live: Arizona Republican claims remaining ballots ‘breaking bigly’ for her as Katie Hobbs holds lead

The Arizona governor’s election is on a knife-edge as Republican Kari Lake narrowly trails Democratic challenger Katie Hobbs in the race for governor.

Ms Lake was behind by about 12,000 votes with 66 per cent of the ballots counted on Wednesday.

In her first public statement since election night, the Trump-backed candidate claimed she was on course for victory in an early afternoon tweet.

“Remaining ballots (Election Day & Early Drop-offs) are all breaking BIGLY for Kari Lake. Just like we knew they would.”

Facing a much tighter margin than she would’ve wanted, Ms Lake ended election night with a speech casting doubts on the integrity of the results - as she’d done throughout her campaign.

“We need honest elections and we’re going to bring them to you, Arizona, I assure you of that. The system we have right now does not work,” she said.

In her own speech, Ms Hobbs expressed optimism but stressed the importance of waiting for all of the votes to be counted.

Meanwhile in the race for Senate, Democrat Mark Kelly held a five point lead over Trump-backed Republican rival Blake Masters as of 1pm ET.

Arizona governor’s race

• Arizona governor’s race too close to call

• Katie Hobbs holding narrow lead with 66 per cent of votes in

• Kari Lake spreads election misinformation

Trump was actually the biggest winner in the midterm elections — and this is why

03:00 , Bevan Hurley

When the Republican party inevitably retakes the House and McCarthy scraps the January 6 committe, Trump will be bullying and trampling over DeSantis — maybe all the way to Oval Office, writes The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe.

Trump was actually the biggest winner in the midterm elections

Abortion rights advocates count ‘seismic’ victories

02:00 , Bevan Hurley

Five months after the US Supreme Court revoked a constitutional right to abortion, voters in three states were the first to enshrine an explicit right to abortion care in their state constitutions.

Voters in Michigan joined Vermont and California to enshrine protections for abortion care in their state constitutions, while voters in Kentucky and Montana appear to have shot down anti-abortion measures in their states.

Alex Woodward takes a closer look at the states that chose to protect abortion rights.

Abortion rights advocates count ‘seismic’ victories in US elections

Lauren Boebert mocked for hours of silence after tweeting ‘Red wave has begun’

01:00 , Bevan Hurley

“The red wave has begun!” tweeted Lauren Boebert on Tuesday as she congratulated fellow Republican Anna Paulina Luna, who was one of the first House races to be called by the Associated Press.

In the 17 hours since, as she has trailed Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, Ms Boebert has been curiously silent.

Filling the void have been her many detractors on social media.

Johanna Chisholm has the story.

Lauren Boebert mocked for awkward 17-hour silence after tweeting ‘red wave has begun’

Abortion wasn’t supposed to matter in the midterms

00:00 , Bevan Hurley

In states where abortion was on the ballot, people overwhelmingly voted to support access to the procedure — and where anti-abortion candidates stood for election, voters tended not to favor them, The Independent’s Clémence Michallon writes.

“Exit polls show that voters cared a lot more about abortion than expected: It was the second most important issue they kept in mind, according to NBC News’s polling, right behind inflation and far ahead of crime, gun policy, and immigration.

“And in states where abortion was explicitly on the ballot, people voted to support access to the procedure.”

Abortion wasn’t supposed to matter in the midterms. Republicans got a rude awakening

‘Furious’ Trump blames Melania for telling him to back Dr Oz

23:00 , Bevan Hurley

In case you were wondering how things are going at Mar-a-Lago today, Donald Trump is apparently lashing out at everyone — including wife Melania — over the poor midterm showing from candidates he supported.

“Trump is indeed furious this morning, particularly about Mehmet Oz, and is blaming everyone who advised him to back Oz, including his wife, describing it as not her best decision, according to people close to him,” Maggie Haberman of The New York Times tweeted on Wednesday morning.

Gustav Kilander has the full story.

‘Furious’ and ‘livid’ Trump blames Melania for telling him to back Dr Oz

Young voters overwhelmingly supported Democrats in midterms

22:30 , Bevan Hurley

Voters aged from 18 to 29 overwhelmingly went for Democratic candidates, according to exit polls from the National Election Pool.

Sixty-three per cent of voters in that age group voted for Democratic House candidates, according to the poll, while 35 per cent voted for Republicans.

John Bowden explains how Gen Z helped Democrats stave off a red wave.

‘Thank you Gen Z!’ How young voters saved the Democrats

President Biden says Tuesday was a ‘good day for democracy’

22:00 , Bevan Hurley

Addressing the nation for the first time since the midterms, Joe Biden said Tuesday’s results were a “good day for democracy”.

“While the press and pundits were predicting a red wave, it did not happen.”

Abortion wasn’t supposed to matter in the midterms

21:41 , Bevan Hurley

In states where abortion was on the ballot, people overwhelmingly voted to support access to the procedure — and where anti-abortion candidates stood for election, voters tended not to favor them, The Independent’s Clémence Michallon writes.

“Exit polls show that voters cared a lot more about abortion than expected: It was the second most important issue they kept in mind, according to NBC News’s polling, right behind inflation and far ahead of crime, gun policy, and immigration.

“And in states where abortion was explicitly on the ballot, people voted to support access to the procedure.”

Abortion wasn’t supposed to matter in the midterms. Republicans got a rude awakening

Adam Kinzinger mocks ‘loser’ Trump in withering attack

21:21 , Bevan Hurley

llinois congressman Adam Kinzinger mocked Donald Trump supporters on Wednesday, after a sponsored post on Truth Social network claimed the former president was “prophesied” in the Bible.

“Interesting,” the Illinois Republican wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “Googles Bible verses with ‘loser’ in them.”

Josh Marcus has more.

Adam Kinzinger mocks ‘loser’ Trump in withering attack

Abortion rights advocates count ‘seismic’ victories

20:55 , Bevan Hurley

Five months after the US Supreme Court revoked a constitutional right to abortion, voters in three states were the first to enshrine an explicit right to abortion care in their state constitutions.

Voters in Michigan joined Vermont and California to enshrine protections for abortion care in their state constitutions, while voters in Kentucky and Montana appear to have shot down anti-abortion measures in their states.

Alex Woodward takes a closer look at the states that chose to protect abortion rights.

Abortion rights advocates count ‘seismic’ victories in US elections

Inside John Fetterman’s remarkable fairytale campaign

20:30 , Bevan Hurley

John Fetterman’s rise seemed both unlikely and inevitable, writes The Independent’s Richard Hall.

“Unlikely because he was an unashamed progressive running in a swing state during an election year that was expected to punish Democrats. Inevitable because he had built what many considered to be a movement campaign, powered by vibes and memes.”

Read Richard’s full account from inside the Fetterman campaign.

Inside John Fetterman’s remarkable fairytale campaign

Young voters overwhelmingly supported Democrats in midterms

20:10 , Bevan Hurley

Voters aged from 18 to 29 overwhelmingly went for Democratic candidates, according to exit polls from the National Election Pool.

Sixty-three per cent of voters in that age group voted for Democratic House candidates, according to the poll, while 35 per cent voted for Republicans.

John Bowden explains how Gen Z helped Democrats stave off a red wave.

Young voters surged to Democrats in midterm elections to stave off red wave

17,000 rejected Maricopa County ballots to be counted soon

19:50 , Bevan Hurley

Election officials in Maricopa County are expected to count around 17,000 votes that were unable to be processed by tabulators yesterday, AZ Central reports.

Voting machine malfunctions in Arizona’s most populous county led to unfounded cries of fraud from Republican candidate Kari Lake.

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman Bill Gates rejected that claim and insisted all votes would be properly counted.

AZ Central states that the ballots that weren’t accepted by malfunctioning machines make up around 7 per cent of votes in the county.

Ms Lake is trailing Katie Hobbs by about 12,000 votes with 66 per cent of the ballots counted.

The Democrats’ apocalypse was canceled — largely thanks to Donald Trump

19:30 , Bevan Hurley

The Democrats avoided a blood moon bloodbath largely thanks to one man, The Independent’s senior Washington correspondent Eric Garcia writes.

“Trump set Republicans up for failure the moment he and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rammed through Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation right before the 2020 presidential election.

“That teed up the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade with its decision in Dobbs v Jackson. Had that not happened, Democrats would have been looking at a catastrophic midterm on the scale of their historic rout in 2010. Instead, the decision galvanized their base in a way almost no issue ever could.”

Read Eric’s piece below.

The Democrats’ apocalypse was canceled — largely thanks to Donald Trump

Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock headed to runoff election in Georgia

19:10 , Bevan Hurley

Georgia’s Senate race is headed to a runoff after both Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock failed to garner more than 50 per cent of the vote.

Several networks projected the race would head to a 6 December runoff on Wednesday afternoon.

That could mean that the outcome of the race and control of the upper chamber of Congress will once again come down to voters in Georgia.

Georgia Senate race headed to runoff as majority hangs in the balance

‘People want the circus to stop’

18:50 , Bevan Hurley

Few were picking Lauren Boebert’s Congressional race to go down to the wire.

“She is the incumbent; she represents a plus-nine Republican district; she’s outraised Adam Frisch, so she has more money to spend for her campaign,” Justin Gollob, a political science professor, told The Independent’s Sheila Flynn.

“Her name recognition is higher than Adam Frisch’s. Probably one of his biggest liabilities at this point is his lower name recognition.

“All those signs point to a fairly convincing win. So what’s really a surprise, at this point, is that we’re even having this conversation about the competitiveness of this race.”

Read Sheila’s fascinating report on how Ms Boebert’s “angertainment” alienated voters.

‘People want the circus to stop’: Could Lauren Boebert be in trouble?

Sean Patrick Maloney concedes New York House race

18:30 , Bevan Hurley

Incumbent Sean Patrick Maloney, the chairman of the House Democrats campaign arm, conceded his race to Republican opponent Mike Lawler on Wednesday.

MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki noted that he was the first party campaign chairman to lose their race since 1992.

The Independent’s senior DC correspondent Eric Garcia has the full story.

Sean Patrick Maloney, the head of House Democrats’ campaign arm, concedes his race

Kari Lake: 'We’re going to win big’

18:08 , Bevan Hurley

In her first tweet since election night, Kari Lake has claimed that votes are “breaking bigly” for her.

“Wow. We’re going to win big. Stay tuned, Arizona!” Ms Lake wrote in a tweet a few minutes ago.

Ms Lake is trailing Katie Hobbs by around 12,000 votes with 66 per cent of the ballots counted.

Trump’s influence damaged as his chosen candidates go down

18:00 , Bevan Hurley

About half of Donald Trump’s chosen candidates for Congress suffered losses, denting the former president’s influence as he is widdely expected to formally launch another presidential bid.

A final analysis of the night put the number at roughly 80 of Mr Trump’s 174 congressional endorsements making it to Capitol Hill, a number that includes incumbents.

John Bowden has the full story.

Trump’s influence takes a hit as half of his congressional picks go down

Watch: Craziest moments from US midterm election night

17:40 , Bevan Hurley

Standout moments from the midterms include Arizona GOP candidate Kari Lake promising to be a “nightmare” for journalists, Mike Lindell claiming “90 per cent of the country votes Republican,” and Tudor Dixon refusing to concede the Michigan governor’s race.

Watch below.

Craziest moments from US midterm election night

Who won, who lost and what we know so far

17:20 , Bevan Hurley

Lindsey Graham summed up the mood on election night succinctly: “Definitely not a Republican wave, that is for darn sure.”

Republicans are still heavily favoured to take the House, while the Senate remains too close to call.

The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad explains where the results are at.

US midterms: Who won, who lost and what we know so far

The needle and the damage done to GOP hopes of taking Senate

17:05 , Bevan Hurley

The New York Times’ election needle is predicting Democrats have a strong chance of holding on to control of the Senate.

As of 4am EST Wednesday, the NYT is giving Democrats a 66 per cent chance of retaining at least 50 seats.

Since then, GOP Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson has been tipped to hold on to his seat.

Democrats are leading tight races in Arizona and Georgia that are yet to be called.

The Times projected Republicans have an 83 per cent chance of taking the House.

Lauren Boebert trails Democratic challenger

16:55 , Bevan Hurley

In a closely-watched contest, Maga firebrand Lauren Boebert is trailing in her Colorado congressional race.

With 93 per cent of votes now counted in the district, Adam Frisch is leading with 50.9 per cent of the vote to the incumbent congresswoman’s 49.1 per cent.

The race still remains too close to call – though the New York Times is estimating that Ms Boebert will claw her way back to victory, based on the places in the district still left to report votes.

Rachel Sharp has the story.

How is Lauren Boebert faring in midterms race?

Political observers mock Trump and GOP’s ‘red wave’ failures

16:45 , Bevan Hurley

Predictions of a “red wave” sweeping Republicans to power have not aged well after Democratic support held up reasonably well in the midterms.

Senator Ted Cruz forecast a “red tsunami.” While Joe Rogan said the wave would look like the elevators full of blood in the classic horror film The Shining.

Political observers were quick to point out just how wrong many of these election prophecies turned out to be.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus has the story.

‘A complete crock’: Political observers mock Trump and GOP’s ‘red wave’ failing

Who will be true Maga king after midterm results?

16:35 , Bevan Hurley

With Ron DeSantis having a comfortable victory in Florida and many Trump-aligned candidates losing, the battle royale for the 2024 Republican presidential candidacy has just taken a fascinating twist, The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe writes.

Who will be true Maga king after midterms – Trump or DeSantis?

Arizona’s Maricopa County expects next results to drop on Wednesday evening

16:25 , Bevan Hurley

Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, will be crucial to deciding the outcome of governor and senate races in Arizona.

With 65 per cent of the votes counted already, Katie Hobbs is leading Kari Lake in the county by four percentage points.

The next vote tallies from Maricopa are expected to drop on Wednesday evening.

Election officials say they will have counted 99 per cent of ballots by Friday.

Polls got it wrong about the midterm election results

16:14 , Bevan Hurley

Michael Salfino writes for Independent Voices that the Democrats’ stronger-than-expected showing among independent and young voters was critical in overperforming pre-election expectations.

Mr Salfino also notes that abortion and poor candidate quality among Republicans helped them prove pollsters wrong.

Polls got it wrong about the midterm election results. Here’s why

Joe Scarborough: ‘Don’t run against democracy in America'

16:00 , Bevan Hurley

MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough noted it had been a bad night for Republican election deniers running for governor.

In Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Maryland, Maga candidates who refused to accept the results of the 2020 election lost to their Democratic opponents.

“Pro Tip: Don’t run against democracy in America. You will lose,” the Morning Joe host tweeted on Wednesday.

The only questions mark remains in Arizona, where Kari Lake is trailing to Katie Hobbs.

Democrat holds narrow lead in Secretary of State race

15:45 , Bevan Hurley

In Arizona’s race for secretary of state, Democrat Adrian Fontes is holding a narrow lead over election denier Mark Finchem.

With 66 per cent of the votes counted, Mr Fontes is on 52.4 per cent compared to Mr Finchem’s 47.6 per cent.

Mr Finchem is one of several Republicans running for secretary of state in swing states who have promoted false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

He has pushed the absurd claim that the 2020 election could be decertified, and could try to block the certification of results in 2024.

‘Prepare for a few more days of counting'

15:35 , Bevan Hurley

Katie Hobbs urged supporters to be patient as votes continue to be tallied in the race for Arizona Governor.

“I have every confidence that the counties administering this election conducted a free and fair election, and their results will be accurate,” Ms Hobbs told supporters gathered in Phoenix on election night.

“But they will take time, so prepare for a long evening and a few more days of counting.”

Ms Hobbs, the Arizona secretary of state, had oversight of vote counting during the contentious 2020 presidential election.

With 66 per cent of the votes in, Ms Hobbs holds a narrow lead over election denier Kari Lake.

Kari Lake gets drowned out by ‘f*** Donald Trump’ during press conference

15:25 , Bevan Hurley

Kari Lake has refused to commit to recognising the results of the Arizona Governor’s race and continued to stoke concerns about voting machines on election day.

“I woke up this morning and within minutes of the polls opening up I started getting people calling. Voters in tears, calling my personal numbers, saying ‘What’s going on? The tabulators aren’t working,” she said at a press conference on Tuesday.

During one comical scene, Ms Lake was heard telling reporters that she’s “standing up for the people of Arizona” and “standing up for our children” while “FDT (‘F*** Donald Trump‘)” played in a car passing by.

Jenna Amatulli has the full report.

Kari Lake gets drowned out by ‘f*** Donald Trump’ during press conference

The biggest loser in the US midterms? Donald Trump

15:15 , Bevan Hurley

Writing for Independent Voices, Sean O’Grady says the midterm elections are a clear rejection of Trumpism.

“Rejoice! American democracy and the freedoms of the West are a little bit safer than they might have been.

“The great Republican Party, which at its best has produced outstanding statesmen and women, is a step closer to its salvation and rehabilitation, beginning to escape the gravitational pull of Trump.”

The biggest loser in the US midterms? Donald Trump | Sean O’Grady

Mark Kelly leading Blake Masters in Arizona Senate race

15:05 , Bevan Hurley

In the Senate, incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly has a healthy lead over his opponent Blake Masters.

With 68 per cent of the vote in, Mr Kelly is on 51.4 per cent compared to Mr Masters’ 46.4 per cent.

The race is still too close to call.

Arizona governor’s race too close to call

14:54 , Bevan Hurley

The race for governor remains tight on Wednesday morning.

With 66 per cent of the votes counted, Democrat Katie Hobbs is holding a narrow lead over Republican Kari Lake.

Ms Hobbs is sitting on 50.3 per cent, compared to Ms Lake’s 49.7 per cent.

Officials in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county, have urged patience as they continue to tally early ballots.

Maricopa County Election Director Scott Jarrett told AZCentral earlier this week that it could take 72 hours to process all of the votes.

Maricopa County faced voting machine malfunctions

14:40 , Megan Sheets

Kari Lake’s claims of fraud around the Arizona midterms were fueled in part by reports of voting machine malfunctions in Maricopa County - the state’s most populous - on Tuesday.

“About 20% of the locations out there where there’s an issue with the tabulator where some of the ballots that after people have voted them, they try and run them through the tabulator and they’re not going through,” Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman Bill Gates said in a Facebook video.

Mr Gates noted that long lines had been reported throughout Maricopa County — which is Arizona’s most populous county — as 45 of its 223 voting centres reported issues with the machines.

“If there are long lines at the location you’re at, or issues with the tabulator, if you would prefer to go to another location, you can do that,” Mr Gates said. “It doesn’t matter where you go, as long as you’re a registered voter here in Maricopa County.”

Mr Gates said that voters could still cast ballots at centres with faulty machines, but their ballots would be placed in a secured box until they can be transferred to a centre with working counters.

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi has more:

Kari Lake pushes election fraud conspiracies

14:37 , Megan Sheets

With many votes still to be counted, Kari Lake has already begun casting doubt on the integrity of results in her race against Katie Hobbs.

Ms Lake claimed, without offering evidence, that the trouble with electronic tabulators was part of a Democratic plot to stymie her chances to win even though officials said all votes would be counted by transporting ballots to locations with functioning equipment.

In a speech to supporters late Tuesday, Ms Hobbs addressed the allegations.

“We know my opponent and her allies have been sowing doubts and confusion throughout this campaign. It’s unacceptable that they were spreading this [mis]information today while people were exercising their freedom to vote,” she said.

For her part, Ms Lake was still confident that she would win when she addressed her own supporters on election night.

“We will take the victory when it comes. And we will turn this state around,” she said. She has not stated that she will accept the results of the election if she is not declared the winner.

Arizona governor race too close to call

14:11 , Megan Sheets

The race to be Arizona’s next governor remains too close to call one day after the 2022 midterm elections.

Arizona officials have said the full results could take up to five days to deliver as election workers open and count late-arriving ballots delivered by mail and deposited in drop boxes by Grand Canyon State voters.

As of Wednesday morning, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, leads her GOP challenger, former TV news anchor and conspiracy theorist Kari Lake, by a margin of 50.9 per cent to 49.1 per cent. The difference between the two candidates was just over 30,000 votes.

Officials plan to release updated vote totals once per day, at approximately 9.00 pm ET. Ms Lake, who has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump and who has pledged not to certify any future elections that result in Democratic victories, would need to make up the 30,000 vote deficit with strong showings in the state’s most populous area, Maricopa County.

The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg has more:

Kari Lake trails Katie Hobbs as Arizona governor’s race too close to call