We're not doing anything wrong at all,' Gates told reporters at the county elections office Friday. County Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Gates, a Republican, said the team is working as fast as it can, but it takes time to follow the detailed steps required under Arizona law. Republicans including Lake, who are convinced the remaining ballots strongly favor them, have been pressuring election officials in Maricopa County, which includes the majority of Arizona voters, to speed up the count. In the race for governor, Republican Kari Lake would need to win just over half to overtake Democrat Katie Hobbs.īy late Friday afternoon, Kelly led Masters by 5.6 percentage points, while Hobbs was ahead of Lake by just 1.2 points. With half a million ballots remaining to be counted statewide, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters would need to win more than 60% of them to defeat Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly. Mr Kelly and Ms Giffords went on to co-found a gun safety advocacy group.Īrizona's big races still uncalled as vote count continuesĪrizona's largest county on Friday will begin releasing the results of ballots dropped off at polling places on Election Day, providing clues about whether Republicans can overtake Democrats in critical races for U.S. Mr Kelly, a former Nasa astronaut who has flown in space four times, is married to former US Representative Gabby Giffords, who inspired the nation with her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head during an assassination attempt in 2011 that killed six people and injured 13. Other Arizona contests, including the closely watched race for governor between Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Kari Lake, were too early to call Friday night. Mr Kelly’s victory suggests Democratic success in Arizona was not an aberration during Donald Trump’s presidency.

It was a test of the inroads that Kelly and other Democrats have made in a state once reliably dominated by the Republicans. The Arizona race is one of a handful of contests that Republicans targeted in their bid to take control of the 50-50 Senate. Republicans now must win both those races to take the majority. With Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote, Democrats can retain control of the Senate by winning either the Nevada race, which remains too early to call, or next month’s runoff in Georgia. Former astronaut puts Democrats on verge of clinching Senate controlĭemocratic Senator Mark Kelly won his bid for re-election in the crucial swing state of Arizona, defeating Republican venture capitalist Blake Masters to put his party one victory away from clinching control of the chamber for the next two years of Joe Biden’s presidency.

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