Democrats hold Arizona governor’s mansion with Hobbs win

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) is projected to maintain the purple state’s gubernatorial mansion, per Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).

The Democrat fended off a challenge from Republican Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.) to clinch a second term leading the Grand Canyon State. She led her opponent in the polls heading into Election Day, with DDHQ and Cook Political Report forecasting the race as leaning in Democrats’ favor.

An Arizona governor has not lost reelection since 1967.

The state’s last gubernatorial contest garnered national headlines after Hobbs’s opponent, Republican Kari Lake, filed the highest-profile election case challenging the 2022 results and refused to concede. The lawsuits were all ultimately dismissed .

Hobbs refused to debate Biggs on the campaign trail, with her campaign telling the Arizona Mirror that “face-to-face engagement with Arizonans is more effective than a stage designed for short soundbites and political theater.” The Democrat also declined to debate Lake in 2022.

Biggs, a staunch ally of President Trump, fiscal hawk and member of the House Freedom Caucus , voted to overturn the 2020 election results and alleged widespread fraud in Arizona’s contest.

Republicans currently control both the state House and Senate, but both majorities are on the line Tuesday. Hobbs has set the state’s veto record — 541 since 2023, per the Mirror.

The governor chose a former GOP mayor as her running mate in the purple state that voted for Trump twice and former President Biden in 2020.

Prior to the governorship, Hobbs, a social worker, served as Arizona secretary of State from 2019 to 2023 after an eight-year stint in the State Legislature.