The surprises continue to arrive almost a week before the elections in the United States. Democrats have seized Arizona, a solid Republican stronghold that has become a purple state since Donald Trump fell out with the family of influential Senator John McCain. The former president has been considered one of the big losers left by the November 8 contest. In that account can also be added the knockout of his candidate, Karie Lake. The former Fox News presenter, who made her debut in politics championing radical initiatives and rejecting that Joe Biden won the presidential election in 2020, has been defeated by Katie Hobbs, the former local secretary of state. Her triumph has been declared by the Associated Press agency. Her advantage is less than 19,400 votes with 98% counted.
Hobbs campaigned as the moderate alternative to Lake’s hardliners. The face of the nightly news for 20 years was a frequent presence at Trump’s Arizona rallies during the campaign. On stage he promised to continue the border wall and mobilize National Guard troops to the border with Mexico to arrest and send migrants to camps like the ones launched by controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Phoenix. He also called Hillary Clinton “a disgusting woman” who “should be in prison.” On election day, Lake threatened to the group of reporters that followed her: “I’m going to be your worst fucking nightmare for the next eight years [dos mandatos como gobernadora]… We are going to reform the media.”
Trump’s two most important bets in the state failed: Lake and Blake Masters, who intended to take the Senate seat from Democrat Mark Kelly. He doesn’t look like Lake is going to concede defeat to him. Tonight he has responded by ruling out the end of the race: “The people of Arizona know shit when they see it.” In recent days he had charged against the electoral officials for the delay in the count and assuring, again without evidence, that they favored the Democrats. As has happened in other elections in the West, voting by mail has favored candidates from Biden’s party.
Hobbs will be the fifth female governor of Arizona and the first Democrat since Janet Napolitano left office in 2009. The region has been governed by Republicans ever since. It was loyal territory for right-wing presidential candidates. They had won it every four years since 2000. In 2020, however, everything changed to Trump’s fury. The former Republican president flew into a rage when Fox News put it down to Democrats on election night. Hobbs, as Secretary of State, was in charge of supervising the votes of that contest. She always rejected the conspiracy theories of the circle close to the former president, who shouted from the rooftops that a fraud had been committed against her. They did not provide any evidence to support the claim. This became The great lie. And candidates like Lake and Masters campaigned on it.
Hobbs’ victory has as a backdrop the defense of the vote and of democracy, one of the strongest narratives in this electoral cycle and that has favored the Democrats and the moderate Republicans. Hobbs will replace Doug Doucey, a Republican who was no longer eligible for re-election. The governor met Trump’s fury by arguing that there was no proof of the fraud allegations. Doucey refused to feed The great lie, something that made him a traitor in the eyes of Trumpism. The former president tried to get Doucey not to sign the documents that supported Biden’s narrow victory by 10,400 votes in the state. Television cameras captured the moment Doucey’s cell phone rang. Trump’s incoming callwith the anthem salute to the boss (Hail to the Chief). The governor silenced the phone and signed the papers.
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Ahead of the November election, a battle for the soul of the Republican Party raged in Arizona. Trump supported Lake and other similar candidates, while Mike Pence, who was his vice president, visited the state supporting businessmen and less vociferous candidates. In July both coincided on separate tours, staging the division that the party was experiencing after the assault on the Capitol on January 6. When the vote count began to give Hobbs the lead, Meghan, daughter of John McCain, derisively described Lake’s lag: “It seems that in fact he did need those Republicans who support McCain that he presumes are no longer there.” Some members of the 2008 Republican nominee helped raise funds for Hobbs. Congresswoman Liz Cheney invested in propaganda against Lake.
Democrats, on the other hand, showed unity. When Hobbs announced her intention to become the candidate, no one showed up in the primaries to challenge her. Her constant appearances on television defending the recount in Arizona raised her national profile, allowing him to raise millions of dollars for her campaign. Before entering politics, she had been a social worker on behalf of homeless youth and women victims of sexist violence in Phoenix, the most populous city in Arizona, and where she had a large shelter for victims.
Hobbs tried to run a smooth campaign. He made public events stiff and sticking to the script. He refused to debate Lake in the belief that his rival would turn the meeting into a carnival of lies about the 2020 election. The strategy seems to have paid off. Arizona will be blue for the next four years. Starting in January, Texas will become the only state bordering Mexico that is controlled by Republicans.
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