Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: Mark Kelly, pictured during a visit to Graham County in September 2021, has won re-election to the Senate.
By Jon Johnson
PHOENIX – While the race for governor and others may still be too close to call, the Associated Press has called the race for Senate for incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly over challenger Republican Blake Masters.
With the win keeping both Arizona senators Democrats, President Joe Biden will keep his Democrat majority in the Senate by either keeping Nevada – which is still counting votes – or Georgia, which will have a runoff election. Kelly originally was elected in 2020 to finish the late Sen. John McCain’s term. He will now serve his own full six-year term.
An election dump late Friday night increased Sen. Kelly’s lead over Masters to 123,916 – making it a statistical anomaly for Masters to come back with just under 400,000 votes left to count throughout the state. Masters was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
While the interior of Arizona may be blue or purple, the rural outskirts of the state remain solidly red and Masters won both Graham and Greenlee counties easily, with a two-to-one advantage in Greenlee County and even slightly better than that in Graham County.
Secretary of State
Along with Sen. Kelly, Democrat candidate for Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ lead over Republican Mark Finchem increased during the last vote dump to 118,125 and the AP has called the race for Fontes.
Governor
The race for governor was still too close to call, with Democrat Katie Hobbs leading Republican Kari Lake by 31,097 votes.
Attorney General
Democrat Kris Mayes leads Republican Abraham Hamadeh by 19,151 votes.
U.S. Representative District 6
Republican Juan Ciscomani leads Democrat Kirsten Engel by 2,906 votes.
All election results are unofficial until they are canvassed by the counties and then the state.
