Evers, Whitmer lock up gubernatorial wins; three states waiting

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.