Results in the race had tightened as ballots continued to be counted, with Lake and her allies making a big show of narrowing of the gap. But Saturday evening, Maricopa County reported the results of more than 100,000 additional votes, nearly 55% of which went to Gallego. That boosted the congressman's total by more than 12,000 votes, largely erasing gains Lake had made over the past several days.
Maricopa County estimates there are still 230,000 ballots left to tabulate.
Neither Gallego nor Lake has commented since Decision Desk HQ made its call, though the normally aggressive Kari Lake War Room account posted a somber message, which Lake's account retweeted.
A movement of love:
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) November 10, 2024
Of Family.❤️
Of Arizona.🌵
Of America.🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ssug6Gn3BO
The win keeps both of Arizona's Senate seats in Democratic hands. Two years ago, Mark Kelly handily beat Blake Masters to fill a seat that had belonged for decades to Republican John McCain, who died in 2018. Gallego, who'd served for a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives, jumped into the 2024 race after incumbent Kyrsten Sinema, who switched from Democrat to Independent late in her term, decided to not seek reelection.
The loss is another repudiation for Lake, though it remains to be seen if she accepts it as legitimate. Two years ago, after losing to Gov. Katie Hobbs by 17,000 votes, she persistently challenged the results in court, though she never provided any actual evidence of fraud or wrongdoing. If remaining ballots in Maricopa County break similarly for Gallego, she'll have lost another statewide election by an even larger margin this year.
Lake also is currently running 4.4 points behind former President Donald Trump, in whose populist, election-denying, transphobic image she has styled herself. Decision Desk HQ also called the state for Trump on Saturday. Lake notably received no financial support from powerful political action committees connected to Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, which seemed to treat her candidacy as a lost cause.
Indeed, while Democrats won Senate races in several swing states that went to Trump, Gallego's margin of victory — currently at 1.5 points but poised to increase — might be the most comfortable of them all.
