| Republic of Arizona
Governor Doug Ducey admitted on Tuesday that Democrat Joe Biden took Arizona, nearly three weeks after the Associated Press called the state for Biden, and almost two weeks after several other major news sources did so.
On Tuesday morning on KTAR’s “The Mike Broomhead Show,” Ducey said the state is expected to prove Biden’s victory and all other election results on Monday.
“I’ve said several times: Arizona is a good state of government,” Ducey said. “I trust our electoral system. There is integrity in our electoral system. Joe Biden really won Arizona.”
Republican Ducey had previously refused to acknowledge the Arizona victory of the elected president. Less than a week ago, he said he would only accept the results if all related lawsuits were resolved.
After a judge tossed up a legal challenge over the last four elections on Friday, Ducey was silent. He hesitated before KTAR acknowledged the results in Tuesday’s interview.
The governor is reluctant to admit victory
After a lengthy discussion of the state’s pandemic response, Broomhead switched to the election and asked, “Are you ready for Arizona to be justified to Joe Biden?”
In response, Ducey detailed the state’s process for finalizing the election results.
“You have a vote. You have a table. Then you have a county-level certificate,” he said.
“The next step is state certification. There’s no reason why what’s happening within the legal system is that it’s not going ahead. And that’s my expectation.”
Broomhead pressed the question, “Is this a ‘Yeah, Joe Biden won Arizona’ or not?”
Ducey then recognized that “Biden had indeed won Arizona,” but proposed a narrow victory, noting “10,300 votes, or about 0.3%.”
The Secretary of State called on Ducey to stand up for the truth
Ducey declined to actively question the integrity of the Arizona election process as officials across the state counted and verified the votes, unlike some GOP officials.
But he also stopped showing no evidence of election fraud, as Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has repeatedly done.
Hobbs, who reported receiving threats of violence after the election, called on other state leaders to “stand up for the truth” over Wednesday’s legitimacy of the Arizona results. He specifically criticized Ducey for “deafening silence” on the subject, saying he contributes to “growing unrest.”
At a news conference a few hours later, Ducey reiterated his “confidence in Arizona’s electoral system.” But he insisted that “there is still some uncertainty” about the presidential race.
Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich has rejected ongoing allegations of Arizona election fraud and predicted a Biden victory a week earlier.
Biden became the first Democrat to transport Arizona since President Bill Clinton did so in 1996.
Contact the journalist at [email protected] or 602-653-6807. Follow him on Twitter @mpolletta.
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