Recap: Lake and Hobbs hold final rallies before election in Arizona

It was the final full day of campaigning for Arizona candidates running in the 2022 midterms. From Senate to school board, politicians were down to precious hours in their efforts to persuade voters.

It was also the final full day of preparation for elections workers around the state. Misinformation and efforts to sow doubt have added tensions in an already busy time.

Below is a recap of Monday's election events. Follow Tuesday's coverage of Arizona's midterm election by Republic reporters here.

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8:45 p.m.: 'This is a movement': Lake closes out campaign with GOP slate

Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake walked onstage at a Phoenix church on Monday afternoon as the rock staple “American Woman” blasted from speakers.

“Kari! Kari! Kari!” a couple of hundred people gathered in the prayer room at Dream City Church cheered.

Lake closed out her campaign on the eve of Election Day in her characteristic style: Rallies around the state that blend the charisma and no-holds-barred attitude that have propelled her from local television news anchor to formidable first-time candidate with a national following.

She started in Phoenix, zipped up to Prescott and planned another late-night rally in Scottsdale.

“I would have never envisioned myself 524 days ago — I swear I'm not counting — when we threw our hat into the ring of politics that we would be standing here on the verge of doing something historic in Arizona,” Lake told the crowd in Phoenix. “We have a movement, guys. This is a movement, it's not a campaign. It’s a movement of patriotic Arizonans who are sick of the crap.”

Lake hit her familiar talking points, like securing the state’s border with Mexico and pledging to never impose business closures or mask mandates as during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also delving into culture war issues, like decrying classroom instruction of gender identity issues.

As has become the norm on the campaign trail, Lake appeared with other Republicans on the ballot, including secretary of state hopeful Mark Finchem, attorney general nominee Abe Hamadeh and Blake Masters, candidate for U.S. Senate.

“Vote Republican up and down that ballot,” she told the crowd.

— Stacey Barchenger

7:30 p.m.: Hobbs tells supporters 'democracy is at stake'

Democratic nominee for governor and Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs spent the final full day before the election at events in Mesa, Peoria and central Phoenix, thanking volunteers and encouraging them to knock on a few more doors as the hours ticked down to Election Day.

“The Republicans have put up election deniers for every single seat,” she said to a group of volunteers gathered Monday evening at a home in central Phoenix.

“Democracy is at stake. Abortion rights are at stake. Our public education. Water rights in Arizona. These are all things ... that we have to make sure that we have the right people in office to tackle," Hobbs said. "Thank you for what you are doing, and what you’ll do for the next 24 hours until polls close tomorrow, and we can celebrate winning.”

Hobbs said she believes several races could be so close they trigger automatic recounts under Arizona’s new law that sets the margin at 0.5%. It would fall to Hobbs’ office to initiate that recount by seeking a court order.

She told reporters she expects Kari Lake, the Republican nominee, will declare victory even before all votes are counted.

“We anticipate she will,” Hobbs said. “We're going to do our jobs. We're going to keep making sure that the counties are counting the votes — the eligible votes. Election officials don't declare winners, we don't call races."

Hobbs, surrounded by a swarm of reporters and photographers, visited two homes nearby, knocking on doors and leaving behind a campaign flyer when no one answered.

— Stacey Barchenger

7 p.m.: Clear skies expected in Phoenix for Election Day, wind in Flagstaff

Arizonans heading out to cast their votes in the general midterm elections on Tuesday can expect a mostly sunny and clear day, with some rain chances at night in Flagstaff as a cold front approaches northern Arizona.

People going out to the polls on Tuesday in Phoenix can expect a sunny and sometimes partly cloudy day with some light winds in the afternoon.

National Weather Service meteorologist James Sawtelle said the temperature in the morning will be on the low to mid-50 degrees, but as the day goes on, the temperature is expected to hit the upper 70 degrees.

Sawtelle said there is no rain in the forecast for Tuesday in central Arizona, but the afternoon might be breezy with gusts around 15 mph to 20 mph.

A cold front is heading to northern Arizona by the middle of the week, and a wind advisory will be in place from 11 a.m. on Tuesday to 5 a.m. on Wednesday for northwest Coconino County, along the Mogollon Rim, Black Mesa and the Bradshaw Mountains.

Winds could blow objects and make driving difficult, according to the weather service in Flagstaff.

In Flagstaff people can expect a windy Tuesday, with winds ranging from 20 to 30 mph and gusts up to 45 mph, according to Mark Stubblefield, a meteorologist for the weather service in Flagstaff. The low temperature is expected to be around 45 degrees and the high around 53 degrees.

Into the evening, there are small rain chances for Flagstaff. Stubblefield said there is a 50% chance of snow Tuesday night in areas with higher elevation.

In Tucson, those going to cast their ballot can expect a sunny and mostly clear day, with a high of 82 degrees and a low of 49 degrees, according to Gigi Giralte, a meteorologist for the weather service in Tucson.

— Angela Cordoba Perez

5:30 p.m.: Penzone says MCSO to take 'zero tolerance' approach on Tuesday

Maricopa County officials sought to tamp down on conspiracies and send a public message of strength at an election-eve press conference.

In front of a crowd of local and national media, officials reminded the public that they do not expect to have full election results on Tuesday night and that there may be lines at voting centers on Election Day.

Sheriff Paul Penzone also warned that his office will take a “zero tolerance” approach to anybody breaking the law.

“Anybody out there whose intentions are to undermine this effort, to create fear, to intimidate good men and women who are trying to facilitate this process, you will have to go through us to get there,” Penzone said. “It’s not going to happen on our watch.”

— Sasha Hupka

5 p.m.: Judge bars full hand count of Cochise County ballots

Cochise County can't hand count all of its ballots after the election as planned, a judge said Monday after a Nov. 4 hearing on the controversial effort.

The decision is likely to face an appeal as Election Day approaches, with the county recorder telling the court he already has begun preparations to train volunteers and eventually take custody of the ballots after the election and move them to a yet undisclosed site in Sierra Vista for a recount.

Two Republican Cochise County supervisors proposed the full hand count to verify tabulation machines, despite threats of litigation. After the plan was put in motion, the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and a voter from the county sued, asking the court to stop the full hand count and calling it "unlawful, chaotic, time consuming and unnecessary."

Opponents of the plan said that delays in counting approximately 40,000 Cochise County ballots could in turn delay the state's official election certification.

— Ryan Randazzo and Mary Jo Pitzl

4:45 p.m.: Fontes calls for Finchem to accept election results

Secretary of State candidate Adrian Fontes on Monday called on his opponent to vow to accept the results of Tuesday’s election, no matter the outcome.

“I am challenging Mark Finchem today to pledge that he will accept the results of this election when we beat him tomorrow,” Fontes, the Democratic nominee, said at a Capitol news conference.

“I am calling on him to commit right now that he will not sow doubt or spread lies during the tabulation process," he said. "That he will not make up conspiracies as the results are being slowly and carefully determined.”

Fontes said he will accept the results, although he cautioned it will likely take days for all ballots to be tabulated.

He is a former Maricopa County recorder and oversaw the 2020 election in Arizona’s largest county.

Finchem, the Republican nominee, did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether he would accept Fontes’ pledge.

But Finchem has raised doubts about the voting process ever since the 2020 election, which he contends was “stolen” from Donald Trump.

Finchem said he has compiled an evidence book of proof, which he said he has submitted to the state attorney general, although that office has said it never received anything. He has not made the evidence book public.

At a June campaign event in Chandler, Finchem told the audience that he wouldn’t automatically accept election results in the then-upcoming primary election.

“There ain’t gonna be no concession speech coming from this guy," he said. “I’m going to demand 100% hand count if there’s the slightest hint of any impropriety."

Since then, Finchem has hedged his position on embracing election results, saying he would accept them as long as there was no sign of wrongdoing.

Earlier Monday, Finchem pointed to news reports that National Guard cybersecurity units in 14 states, including Arizona, stand ready to offer election assistance, if needed.

He interpreted this as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency conceding election machines could be hacked.

However, the agency’s lead for election security told Politico that the organization is “not tracking any specific and credible threat to election infrastructure.”

— Mary Jo Pitzl

4 p.m.: Verified early voting packets

As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, Maricopa County had received about 974,000 early voting packets.

Of those, 965,000 ballot envelope signatures have been verified.

The verified ballots will be part of the tally released at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

— Anne Ryman

3 p.m.: Kelly and Masters make final push to voters for Senate seat

Sen. Mark Kelly and Republican challenger Blake Masters are making their final appeals to voters in a close race that could determine the party balance of the U.S. Senate.

Kelly, D-Ariz., and Masters, a first-time candidate, are locked in what’s become an increasingly tight race, with Kelly’s initial advantage in the polls narrowing to a dead heat.

Arizona Republicans at the top of the ticket are continuing their strategy of campaigning together in the final two days, while Kelly has taken a more solo approach.

Masters had three get-out-the-vote bus tour events with his statewide GOP running mates in Gilbert, Phoenix and Prescott planned for Monday. He was expected to fly from Prescott to Scottsdale on Monday evening to join gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s election-eve concert and rally, according to a spokesperson.

On Tuesday, Masters plans to spend election night at the Arizona Republican Party’s watch event in Scottsdale.

Kelly on Monday made a final effort in his appeal to both parties with a “Republicans for Kelly” press conference in Phoenix. Kelly also launched a get-out-the-vote canvass in the morning.

Kelly plans to spend Election Day at get-out-the-vote events in Maryvale and Tucson before the campaign’s election night event in Tucson.

— Alison Steinbach

1:45 p.m.: Maricopa Co. election security update

Maricopa County is holding a 3 p.m. news conference to talk about election security. Sheriff Paul Penzone will be giving an update. It will be shown live at https://www.youtube.com/maricopacountyaz.

1:30 p.m.: Lake and Hobbs campaign in Maricopa County on Monday

Arizona’s candidates for governor are making their final pitches to voters Monday in a neck-and-neck race that has kept the national spotlight trained on the Grand Canyon State.

GOP nominee Kari Lake and Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs both spent the final weekend before Election Day traveling the state on bus tours appealing to the state’s 4.1 million registered voters. On Monday, they returned to Arizona’s most populous county, Maricopa County, to urge voters there to drop off their ballots or vote in person on Tuesday.

Hobbs’ calendar included events with voters in Mesa, Peoria and Phoenix. Hobbs, who is Arizona’s secretary of state and a former lawmaker, said her campaign was “not taking a single vote for granted” in an election that would determine the future of voting, abortion and workers’ rights.

Lake, the former Fox 10 news anchor, planned rallies in Phoenix, Prescott and Scottsdale.

“We're just out there getting out the vote today, we haven’t slowed down," Lake told KTAR talk radio host Mike Broomhead in an early Monday interview. “I’ve been on the campaign trail for 524 days, and have been to every corner of this state."

— Stacey Barchenger

11:45 a.m.: DOJ sending election monitors to 5 counties

The U.S. Justice Department is sending federal election monitors to poll sites in five Arizona counties to guard against illegal voter interference and intimidation, the agency announced Monday morning.

The monitors will be in Maricopa, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, and Yavapai counties on Election Day, Nov. 8.

It’s part of a federal effort in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania. A total of 64 jurisdictions will get federal election monitors to ensure compliance with voter access provisions and guard against illegal interference and intimidation.

The Justice Department also will field complaints from the public related to possible violations of the federal voting rights laws at 800-253-3931 or on the department’s website https://civilrights.justice.gov/.

— Catherine Reagor

9 a.m.: How to track results on election night

No results have been released in the Arizona election yet. You can expect to see the first batch of election results about an hour after the polls close Tuesday.

More results will follow throughout the night, but it could take days to determine winners in tight races.

State law gives county election officials until Nov. 28 to wrap up counting for this Nov. 8 election.

Early ballots received up to a few days before Election Day will be counted and released about an hour after polls close.

Arizona voters: What to expect on election night with results, race calling and more

Officials estimate that about 250,000 to 350,000 people will vote in person in the county on Election Day, and those tallies will be released at regular intervals throughout the night.

So-called “late-early” votes — ballots dropped off at the polls Tuesday — will wait for tabulation in the coming days, because all require verification that they were signed by valid registered voters before being counted.

With three distinct groups of voters, keep in mind the earliest returns often don’t show who ultimately will win. It is common for races to be too close to call until a substantial number of the “late-earlies” are tabulated in the days after voting ends.

— Sasha Hupka and Associated Press

8:30 a.m.: Election results by Christmas?

Voting in Arizona will end Tuesday, but the election won't.

That's due in part to a new state law that makes automatic recounts more likely, especially given close races up and down this year's ballot.

Elections officials and campaign staffers say they're preparing for the possibility of recounts, which would extend their work for weeks.

The new law dictates that if the margin between two candidates or ballot measures is less than half a percentage point of all ballots cast in that race, a recount is automatically triggered. That means in a race in which 3 million ballots are cast, a margin of 15,000 votes or less would set a recount in motion.

The previous margin was one-tenth of 1 percentage point.

The expanded threshold came in the wake of Joe Biden's narrow win in Arizona. While Biden's 10,457-vote margin was big enough to avoid a recount under the law at the time, it would have forced a recount of all 3.4 million ballots cast if the new standard were in place. It also would have affected four other races on the 2020 ballot, according to county officials.

— Mary Jo Pitzl

 Voting updates: The Republic's analysis of early ballot returns

7 a.m.: Where can you drop off your ballot

In Maricopa County, you can vote Monday in person at what are designated "emergency vote centers." Many of these centers are open until 5 p.m.

State law requires that voters must provide identification and sign a statement attesting that they have experienced an emergency preventing them from voting on Election Day.

Maricopa County voters may use any open vote center or drop box on Monday to return an early ballot.

Search for a voting center or a drop box location at https://elections.maricopa.gov/voting/where-to-vote.html.

— The Arizona Republic

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona election preview: Lake, Hobbs hold final rallies