Arizona races for governor and senate tightening
Democrats jumped out to a big lead on election night
PHOENIX (KECY, KYMA) - The Arizona U.S. Senate race and Governor's race is still too close to call.
Democrats Mark Kelly and Katie Hobbs got off to double-digit leads early on election night, but those have since disappeared.
A majority of the first results were from early ballots, which in past races have favored Democratic candidates.
Republicans Blake Masters and Kari Lake encouraged their supporters to come out on election day.
Many of the ballot result drops from election day voters have favored Republicans, but Maricopa County election officials also say voters dropped off over 200 thousand early ballots on election day that still have not been counted.
On election night, even though she was behind, Kari lake believed she would ultimately win the race.
“We’re going to be patient guys, we’re going to wait. Right now the votes coming in are going our way," Lake said. "We will take the victory when it comes."
Lake encouraged her supporters to vote on election day.
It could be why the race is tightening, as early ballots, which tend to favor democratic candidates, were counted first.
Hobbs, the current Secretary of State, said at her election night party it could take days to know the final results.
“I know we’re all eager to know the results of these incredibly important races…but we need to be patient and wait for every vote to be counted,” Hobbs said.
Meanwhile in the senate race, after the first results came in Democrat Mark Kelly was up by as much as 20 percent.
“I am feeling confident tonight,” Kelly said at his election night party in Tucson Tuesday.
His opponent Blake Masters has closed the gap since, also encouraging his supporters to vote on election day.
Masters did not speak at the GOP election night party.