Arizona certifies midterm election results

Arizona officials certified the 2022 midterm election results on Monday, formally making Democrat Katie Hobbs the next governor and Democrat Adrian Fontes the next secretary of state. 

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly will also get a full six-year term in the Senate, after serving in the Senate the last two years. The attorney general's race between Democrat Kris Mayes and Republican Abraham Hamadeh heads to an automatic recount, with Mayes ahead by 510 votes. Automatic recounts are required in Arizona if the margin is equal to or less than 0.5% of the total votes cast.

Hobbs beat Kari Lake, a former local TV news anchor who also has refused to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election. Lake still refuses to concede in the governor's race. Fontes also beat a 2020 election denier, Republican Mark Finchem.

Hobbs, as the current secretary of state, was joined by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich at a certification ceremony Monday morning. Hobbs said Arizona had a successful election, "but too often throughout the process, powerful voice proliferated misinformation that threatened to disenfranchise voters."

Hobbs said "all voting equipment was thoroughly tested in the certification process" before and after the election, adding that the election was transparent, fair, and accurate. She said 2024 will again bring challenges "from the election denial community."

— Kathryn Watson contributed to this report