Hoffman declares victory over Riggs in supt. of public instruction race

PHOENIX — Democrat Kathy Hoffman on Sunday declared victory over Republican Frank Riggs in the superintendent of public instruction race.

The Democrat came into Sunday with a nearly 43,000 vote lead, a lead that grew by almost 4,000 votes following the latest tallies.

The race, however, has not officially been called.

This victory is not just about me or my campaign. It’s about the thousands of teachers and educators who lead our public schools every day.

We did this together. We did this because the future of Arizona starts in our public schools.

Words cannot express my gratitude. pic.twitter.com/6cOsI9g02l

— Kathy Hoffman for Superintendent (@kathyhoffman_az) November 12, 2018

Hoffman, a former teacher, was trailing by 8,000 at the end of election night with nearly 500,000 votes remaining. She took the lead by 20,000 after the Thursday count reveal, added another 10,000 vote advantage on Friday and added another 13,000 vote advantage on Saturday.

Arizona Democratic Party Chair Felecia Rotellini offered this statement congratulating Hoffman.

Congratulations to Kathy Hoffman on becoming Arizona’s next Superintendent of Public Instruction. Arizona’s students need a dedicated educator to turn our state’s public schools around and to hold Republican politicians accountable for providing our teachers with much needed and much deserved pay increases. Kathy is the embodiment of the #RedforEd movement, and she’ll direct that activist spirit into serving Arizona’s students

There are now approximately 162,00 votes remaining to be counted in Maricopa County and several thousands in other counties.

Secretary of state candidates Republican Steve Gaynor and Democrat Katie Hobbs saw their undeclared race tighten following Sunday’s tallies.

Hobbs overtook Gaynor for the first time and leads the Republican by 150 votes following Sunday.

Gaynor led by 10,000 votes as recently as Friday and by 3,120 votes after Saturday.

The state senate seat for District 28 between Republican Kate Brophy McGee and Democrat Christine Porter Marsh was also undeclared as of Sunday with McGee in the lead by a narrow margin of 617 votes.

Updated counts show that McGee now leads by 643 votes.

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