Arizonians will be electing their new governor on November 8, 2022, with the incumbent Republican Governor Doug Ducey becoming ineligible to run for the third term in office.
Arizona is one of the twenty-seven states in the US that prohibit its governor from serving for more than two consecutive terms.
Both Republicans and Democrats are looking forward to seizing the election and having their governor in Arizona.
For Republicans, it is important to retain control of states and to use their influence in the next presidential elections.
Similarly for Democrats, it is extremely crucial to seize control of red states from the Republican Party to eradicate any danger that could arise from the Republicans in the next presidential election or even after the midterm elections.
The Arizona gubernatorial elections have also become the center of attraction of the American politics as the voter fraud claims of Donald Trump were busted in this state.
If Republicans wins Arizona Senate race as well alongside with Governor elections, the state will belong to them.
This seriousness and risk have made the Arizona governor race very important, and many Americans across the country are closely watching the developments in the political spectrum of the country.
Let’s have a look at the developments in the Arizona governor elections.
Katie Hobbs and Kari Lake leading: Leading the Polls
As the incumbent governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey is ineligible to run for the third consecutive term, and several candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties have jumped into the race to win the gubernatorial elections.
Out of these several candidates, Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs are leading the race, as shown by early polls.
Data from early polls suggest a close and competitive race between Lake and Hobbs. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and former television anchor Kari Lake are leading in the early polls of the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, according to the polling data collected by a nonpartisan research firm, OH Predictive Insights.
The survey was conducted among 863 eligible voters of Arizona, asking which candidates they favor the most. Nearly 40 percent of the respondents favored Hobbs, and 39 percent of respondents favored Republican Kari Lake.
Furthermore, 27 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Hobbs, while 22 percent had an unfavorable opinion of Lake.
Analysts believe that the television career of Lake is providing her with an edge over the other Republican candidates and could also play an important role in taking Lake to the governor’s house of Arizona.
Various Candidates are Competing to make the Race Saturated
Apart from Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs, several other candidates are running in the primaries to reach the general election for governor in 2022.
Democrat Representative Aaron Lieberman has also announced to run for governor, becoming a third major candidate in the race. Lieberman has developed a reputation as a moderate and therefore could make the job difficult for Katie Hobbs in Democratic Primary.
In his announcement video, Lieberman presented himself as pragmatic and a problem solver. Democratic Marco Lopez has also announced to run for governor.
Lopez has proven his potential by becoming the youngest mayor in the United States and quickly rising to top positions in the Obama administration.
Lopez was the first candidate to announce for the election and could defy the results of early polls, as proven by his impressive career.
Republican Jorge Rivas, the owner of a Tucson restaurant, made headlines due to his support for former President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the presidential race.
Rivas has announced running for governor in a television interview and has also presented himself as a better option than any other Republican candidate.
The former United States Republican Representative Matt Salmon is also looking forward to running in the race that he narrowly lost to Democratic Janet Napolitano some 18 years ago.
Salmon has served some good years in the Arizona legislature and also won three terms in Congress in the 1990s. In his announcement video, Rep.
Matt Salmon touted his conservative views such as supporting gun rights, strong border control, and opposing the critical race theory.
Final Thoughts
Former television star Kari Lake is endorsed by Donald Trump for the upcoming Governor race. Trump endorses Kari Lake while saying she will fight to restore the integrity of elections.
Lake is one of those Republicans who openly supported Trump in the aftermath of the general election.
With the announcement of Lake to run for election, she has become the only candidate for governor to have explicitly said that Trump won Arizona in the 2020 presidential race and was defeated through voter fraud.
After the endorsement from Donald Trump, Kari Lake has become a favorite candidate among Arizona Republicans, a majority of whom belong to Trump’s wing of the Republican Party.
The endorsement from Trump is a new way to reward Republicans who have been loyal to the former president in his claims against the presidential elections.
Governor Doug Ducey endorsed Biden’s victory after the presidential race, and endorsement of Lake is Trump’s way of getting back at Governor Ducey.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.