Trump gains ground on Biden in Arizona, but still trails by 30,000 votes

Nov 6, 2020, 7:11 PM

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

PHOENIX – Democrat Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump in Arizona shrunk by a few thousand to 1,604,067 to 1,574,206 after more results were released Friday evening, according to Secretary of State statistics.

Trump gained 6,955 votes on the former vice president and trails Biden by 29,861. Biden was leading 1,572,634 to 1,535,818, the office’s website showed.

The update included nearly 70,000 ballots reported by Maricopa County.

In an earlier Friday update at 9 a.m. that included Maricopa County, Biden was leading 1,561,147 to 1,517,368 over Trump in Arizona.

The Associated Press projected Biden winning Arizona shortly after election night, after an analysis of ballots cast statewide concluded there were not enough outstanding to allow Trump to catch up.

Meanwhile, most media outlets have determined that the Grand Canyon State remains too close to call.

However, two prominent Phoenix polling firms — Data Orbital and OH Predictive Insights — said Friday they now expect Biden to win Arizona.

Biden overtook Trump in the vote count in battlegrounds Pennsylvania and Georgia on Friday morning, closing in on the presidency.

If Pennsylvania goes to the Democrat, it would clinch the race for the challenger, regardless of the final numbers from Arizona.

It could take several more days for the vote count to conclude in some states, allowing a clear winner to emerge. With millions of ballots yet to be tabulated, Biden has already received more than 73 million votes nationally, the most in history.