Polls show election denier Kari Lake in tight race for Arizona governor

Arizona is one of the most consequential governor’s races in the country.

Republican nominee for governor in Arizona Kari Lake is in a tight race just two weeks out from Election Day.

Ms Lake is running against Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s Democratic Secretary of State, but Ms Hobbs refused to debate the former news anchor.

Notably, Ms Lake is one of the chief promoters of former president Donald Trump’s big lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Recently, in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, she did not commit to accepting Arizona’s election results if she lost.

“I’m going to win the election, and I will accept that result,” Ms Lake said in the interview.

An InsiderAdvantage/Fox10 poll earlier this month showed Ms Lake beating Ms Hobbs by three points. Conversely, a HighGround and AZ Family poll last week showed that Ms Hobbs leads Ms Lake by only one point.

This election has high consequences. Mr Trump criticised retiring Republican Governor Doug Ducey for certifying 2020 presidential election results when Joe Biden won the state. Conversely, Ms Lake has called for the decertification of presidential election results from both Arizona and Wisconsin.

Ms Hobbs is also underperforming Democratic incumbent Senator Mark Kelly, who won in 2020 and is seeking a full term against the Trump-endorsed Blake Masters.

The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates the race as a “Toss Up.” The race also represents one of the few opportunities for Democrats to flip a governor’s seat as hopes for Stacey Abrams to beat Governor Brian Kemp in Georgia have largely faded.

Overall, FiveThirtyEight shows that Ms Lake has a 1.1 per cent advantage over Ms Hobbs in Arizona in terms of polling.