Republicans underperformed in Arizona – governor and Senate race too early to call with votes still being counted

Republicans anticipated a massive red wave in Arizona that should have secured easy victories for gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) and senatorial candidate Blake Masters (R). However, as of midnight EST on election night, the races in Arizona were too early to call with many votes left to count.

Lake trailed opponent Katie Hobbs by roughly 13 percentage points with 50% of the votes counted, according to the Associated Press' most recent reporting. The news outlet reported that Democratic incumbent Senator Mark Kelly held a 17-point lead over Masters.

During an election night speech, Lake addressed a crowd of supporters and stated, "Guess what? We are going to win this."

"It's early," Lake continued. "If we have to take this fight through, we will. If it takes hours or days, we will."

Lake noted that the last three drops of election results showed her up over 80%.

Hobbs released a statement on Election Day that read, "As we eagerly await finding out who won each of Arizona's incredibly important races, I have every confidence that the counties administering this election conducted a free and fair election, and their results will be accurate. But they will take time, so we need to prepare for a long evening and a few more days of counting."

Arizona's Election Day issues

Arizona saw an overwhelming voter turnout on Election Day, despite early issues with malfunctioning tabulators.

Hobbs assured voters that "every eligible vote will be counted."

"At most of the polling places, there's at least one tabulator working where they're having these issues," Hobbs added. "Every single voter can be confident that their vote will count."

Hobbs noted that at least 45,000 Maricopa County residents had voted by 9 a.m. local time.

Lake addressed the press on Tuesday afternoon about the Election Day issues.

"Do you think what's happening here in Maricopa County is normal?" Lake asked reporters. "We have had problems after problems."

"I'm just embarrassed for Arizona that we're still having these problems, guys. But we will turn things around when I win. We are going to reform elections and make sure that we have honest, transparent elections that every Arizonan feels confident in," Lake added.

Blake Masters stated on Twitter, "We can win — we *will* win — despite all this nonsense in Maricopa. But We The People have to make it happen. GET YOUR VOTE IN, the future of our country depends on it!"

Mark Kelly did not address the public about the malfunctioning tabulators on Tuesday. However, in an MSNBC interview last week, Kelly noted that he is prepared for Masters to question the results of the midterm elections.

Kelly argued that Masters' questioning of Arizona's election system is "dangerous for our democracy."

Lake's and Masters' campaigns filed an emergency lawsuit Tuesday evening to extend the voting hours from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in Maricopa County. An Arizona court immediately shot down their request.