PHOENIX — Democrat Katie Hobbs was elected Arizona governor on Monday, defeating an ally of Donald Trump who falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged and refused to say she would settle for the outcomes of her race this 12 months.

FILE – Katie Hobbs speaks to supporters at a marketing campaign occasion in Peoria, Ariz., Nov. 7, 2022. Hobbs has gained in her race for governor towards Republican candidate Kari Lake. (Ross D. Franklin/AP)

Hobbs, who’s Arizona’s secretary of state, rose to prominence as a staunch defender of the legitimacy of the final election and warned that her Republican rival, former tv information anchor Kari Lake, can be an agent of chaos. Hobbs’ victory provides additional proof that Trump is weighing down his allies in an important battleground state as the previous president gears up for an announcement of a 2024 presidential run.

She is going to succeed Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who was prohibited by term-limit legal guidelines from operating once more. She’s the primary Democrat to be elected governor in Arizona since Janet Napolitano in 2006.

A onetime Republican stronghold the place Democrats made features throughout the Trump period, Arizona has been central to efforts by Trump and his allies to solid doubt on Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory with false claims of fraud. This 12 months, many Trump-endorsed candidates faltered typically elections in battleground states, although his decide within the Nevada governor’s race, Republican Joe Lombardo, defeated an incumbent Democrat.

FILE - Kari Lake, Arizona Republican candidate for governor, speaks to supporters at the Republican watch party in Scottsdale, Ariz., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.

FILE – Kari Lake, Arizona Republican candidate for governor, speaks to supporters on the Republican watch social gathering in Scottsdale, Ariz., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (Ross D. Franklin/AP)

Earlier than getting into politics, Hobbs was a social employee who labored with homeless youth and an govt with a big home violence shelter within the Phoenix space. She was elected to the state Legislature in 2010, serving one time period within the Home and three phrases within the Senate, rising to minority chief.

Hobbs eked out a slender win in 2018 as secretary of state and was thrust into the middle of a political storm as Arizona grew to become the centerpiece of the efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election he misplaced. She appeared continually on cable information defending the integrity of the vote depend.

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