ARIZONA NEWS

Counting continues in Arizona as Republicans lose ground

Nov 12, 2018, 8:36 AM | Updated: 9:48 am

(AP Photo)...

(AP Photo)

(AP Photo)

PHOENIX – Ballot-counting continued Monday in Arizona nearly a week after Election Day, with Republicans’ hopes in three key statewide races growing dimmer by the day.

“We could get anywhere from 50 (thousand) to 90,000 ballots today,” Garrett Archer, senior analyst with Arizona Secretary of State’s office, said Monday on KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News.

Kyrsten Sinema extended her lead over Republican Martha McSally to around 33,000 votes on Sunday.

“The trends are not at all going where (McSally) needs the to go,” Archer said.

“She’s still losing Maricopa County on each ballot drop. She needs to win these next ballot drops by a significant amount to turn this around.”

Sinema’s campaign called her lead “insurmountable” over the weekend.

“I think the McSally campaign is in a really bad spot,” Valley political consults Stan Barnes said on Arizona’s Morning News.

“Every time votes are counted we get a new distance between the Sinema campaign and the McSally campaign. (McSally is) trending in the wrong direction.”

Sinema is looking to become Arizona’s first female U.S. senator and the state’s first Democrat elected to the position since 1988.

Archer said ballots likely would trickle in from smaller counties, but the big numbers will come from Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county.

Around 220,000 ballots remained to be counted in the state, Archer tweeted Sunday, 162,000 from Maricopa County.

Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Steve Gaynor were battling it out for secretary of state.

Gaynor had been declared winner Election Night with a lead if around 44,000 votes, but Hobbs didn’t concede. As counting continued, Gaynor led by less than 300 votes by Sunday.

“That one (Hobbs-Gaynor) is a nail-biter,” Archer said. “It’s not often we get a statewide general that is this exciting.”

In the race for state superintendent of public instruction, Democrat Kathy Hoffman declared herself the winner over Republican Frank Riggs, although the race hasn’t been called.

“The lead there is probably not going to change,” Archer said.

Hoffman trailed by around 8,000 votes after Election Day but pushed her lead to more than 46,000 votes Sunday.

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Rep.-elect Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., celebrates his win at an election night gathering for Democrats Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Phoenix. Stanton defeated Republican Steve Ferrara in Arizona's 9th Congressional District. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, R, speaks to supporters, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, at an election night party in Scottsdale, Ariz. Incumbent Ducey defeated democratic challenger David Garcia for his second term. (AP Photo/Matt York) Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, R, embraces Cindy McCain, wife of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, while speaking to supporters, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, at an election night party in Scottsdale, Ariz. Incumbent Ducey defeated Democratic challenger David Garcia for his second term. (AP Photo/Matt York) U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., holds his daughter Olivia as he speaks to supporters, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, at an election night party in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York) (KTAR News/Jim Cross) (KTAR News/Jim Cross) (KTAR News/Jim Cross) (KTAR News/Kathy Cline) (KTAR News/Kathy Cline) (KTAR News/Kathy Cline) (KTAR News/Griselda Zetino) (KTAR News/Griselda Zetino) (KTAR News/Griselda Zetino) (KTAR News/Griselda Zetino) An elections official counts ballots at the Tabulation and Election Center, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Arizona Republican senatorial candidate Martha McSally, speaks with voters, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, at Chase's diner in Chandler, Ariz. McSally and Democratic challenger Kirsten Sinema are seeking the senate seat being vacated by Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who is retiring in January. (AP Photo/Matt York) Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at a relocated polling station, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 in Chandler, Ariz. The new polling station opened four hours late after the original location did not open due to the buildings' foreclosure overnight. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

A volunteer moves supplies to a relocated polling station, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 in Chandler, Ariz. The new polling station opened four hours late after the original location did not open due to the buildings' foreclosure overnight. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

A notice sign is seen at a polling station, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 in Chandler, Ariz. A new polling station opened four hours late after the original location did not open due to the buildings' foreclosure overnight. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Marcicopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes holds an Election Day press conference, Nov. 6, 2018. (KTAR Photo/Ali Vetnar) Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, R, arrives to cast his ballot early Tuesday, Nov 6, 2018 in Paradise Valley, Ariz. Ducey is seeking re-election against Democratic challenger David Garcia. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Garcia serves coffee at a local cafe, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Phoenix. Garcia is challenging Republican incumbent Gov. Doug Ducey. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Voters head into Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix to cast their ballots on Nov. 6, 2018. (KTAR News Photo/Jim Cross) Maricopa County elections official Deborah Atkins places a "vote" sign outside a polling station prior to it's opening, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York) Maricopa County elections official Deborah Atkins hangs "vote" signs outside a polling station prior to it's opening, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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Counting continues in Arizona as Republicans lose ground