As is the case with the control of Congress following the midterms, the gubernatorial layout for the country was not finalized Tuesday night.

Karah Rucker Anchor/Reporter/Editor

Evers, Whitmer lock up gubernatorial wins; three states waiting

Nov 09, 2022

Karah Rucker Anchor/Reporter/Editor

By Karah Rucker (Anchor/Reporter/Editor), Ben Burke (Digital Producer)

As is the case with the control of Congress following the 2022 midterm elections, the gubernatorial layout for the country had not been finalized as of early Wednesday. The overnight hours did see incumbent Democratic Govs. Gretchen Whitmer, Mich., and Tony Evers, Wis., pick up wins over tough Republican challengers.

“I am so, so happy to be here with all of you and my family and my partner in governance and all of the phenomenal Michiganders who worked so hard to make sure that our voices were heard, to make sure that we set our state on the course that is focused on the future and is focused on solving problems, not demonizing others,” Gov. Whitmer said early Wednesday. “We are thrilled, thrilled at the unexpected high turnout. We are thrilled that the three ballot initiatives got passed.”

Three key gubernatorial races remained unresolved early Wednesday. As of 7:45 a.m. EST, Arizona Democrat Katie Hobbs had a slight lead over Republican Kari Lake; Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, D, was trailing Republican challenger Joe Lombardo; and Oregon Democrat Tina Kotek had a slight lead over Republican Christine Drazan.

Lake, who has repeated former President Donald Trump’s unfound claims of widespread voter fraud, expressed similar concerns Tuesday night. She railed on Arizona elections officials over reported issues with voting machines in the state’s most populous county.

“I kind of feel like it’s Groundhog Day. We had Nov. 3, 2020, that was called incompetency 101. Then we had Aug. 2, 2022, incompetency in elections 202 and now we’re at incompetency 303. We need honest elections,” Lake said. “If we have to fight through the B.S. and the garbage, then we will fight through the B.S. and the garbage. But how do you get fair and free elections? You have to fight and win to make them fair and free.”

At issue in Arizona were printers that were not producing dark enough markings on the ballots, which required election officials to change the printer settings. Until then, some voters who tried to insert their ballots into voting tabulators were forced to wait and use other machines or were told they could leave their ballots in a drop box.

The issue affected an unknown number of ballots in the county. Those votes were expected to be counted Wednesday.

Tags: 2022 Elections, Donald Trump, Gretchen Whitmer, Joe Lombardo, Kari Lake, Katie Hobbs, Steve Sisolak, Tina Kotek, Tony Evers, Voter fraud, Voting machines

“I kind of feel like it’s groundhog day. We had nov 3 2020 that was called incompetency 101. then we had august 2nd 2022 incompetency in elections 202 and now we’re at incompetency 303. We need honest elections.”
REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE KARI LAKE IS CALLING FOR ELECTION REFORM IN ARIZONA WHILE AWAITING RESULTS IN HER RACE FOR GOVERNOR.
EARLIER IN THE DAY VOTING MACHINES IN ITS MOST POPULOUS COUNTY EXPERIENCED ISSUES…VOTERS FILLING OUT PAPER BALLOTS WHILE OFFICIALS WORKED TO FIX THE GLITCH.
LAKE SPOKE TO A CROWD LATE TUESDAY NIGHT…SHARING CONCERNS OVER THE SECURITY OF ELECTIONS…AS ARIZONA CONTINUED COUNTING VOTES INTO THE OVERNIGHT…STILL UNABLE TO CALL STATE RACES AS OF WEDNESDAY MORNING.
ARIZONA ISN’T THE ONLY STATE AWAITING RESULTS IN THEIR GUBERNATORIAL RACES.
OREGON HASN’T ELECTED A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SINCE 1982…
AND WHILE THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE IS LEADING…THE RACE IS TOO CLOSE TO CALL.
NEVADA IS ALSO STILL TABULATING VOTES.
TWO DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENT GOVERNORS WERE ABLE TO CELEBRATE A LATE-NIGHT VICTORY IN MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN.
GRETCHEN WHITMER AND TONY EVERS HAD THEIR RACES CALLED AFTER ENOUGH VOTES WERE TALLIED THE MORNING AFTER ELECTION DAY.