Trump-endorsed Kari Lake wins the GOP nomination for governor in battleground Arizona
Former television anchor Kari Lake, a Republican, and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, will face off for governor of Arizona in November, a top battleground race.
The races & the stakes:
Arizona held competitive Republican and Democratic primaries for an open battleground gubernatorial seat vacated by incumbent GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, who is retiring due to term limits.
Former President Donald Trump's influence and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election are major factors influencing primaries in both parties and will take center stage in the general election.
The crowded and chaotic Republican gubernatorial primary became a proxy battle between dueling factions of the GOP, Insider's Bryan Metzger reports.
Trump and other far-right figures are backed Kari Lake, a former local news anchor who ran a campaign largely rooted in Trump's lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him, while former Vice President Mike Pence and Ducey endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson, an independently wealthy real estate developer.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the state's chief election official, defeated former Obama administration official Marco Lopez for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Hobbs running for governor also opens up the crucial office of the secretary of state. The person elected to this office will be responsible for overseeing the 2024 presidential election in a key battleground state.
Adrian Fontes, Maricopa County's former top election official, defeated state Rep. Reginald Bolding for the Democratic nomination. He will face State Rep. Mark Finchem, a key ally in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Arizona, won the crowded GOP primary field, defeating state Rep. Shawna Bolick, state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, and Beau Lane.
State legislative primaries:
Trump's influence also loomed large in two high-profile GOP state Senate primaries.
In the 7th District, highly controversial far-right Sen. Wendy Rogers defeated conservative state Sen. Kelly Townsend in a race that became a battle over Rogers' ties to the white-nationalist figure Nick Fuentes, far-right trolls, and the two candidates' fealty to Trumpism, Insider reported.
And in the 10th District, current Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers lost to a Trump-backed opponent. Bowers, who was term-limited in the state House and ran in the GOP primary for an open state Senate seat, told Insider he's "running against Donald Trump." Bowers testified before the January 6 committee about Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.