Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs wins reelection, defeating GOP election denier

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs will win the governor's race, CBS News projects, besting Rep. Andy Biggs, who was backed by President Trump and has promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. 

Hobbs narrowly won the 2022 election by just 17,000 votes over Republican Kari Lake. Her race was considered to be one of the toughest for Democrats to win.

She faced one of the president's top allies in Congress, and Mr. Trump, who won Arizona by five points in 2024, had gone to the state to campaign for him. 

During her term, she has had to work with a GOP majority in both houses of the legislature, earning the nickname the "veto queen" from Republicans after she issued over 100 vetoes in her first year alone and 88 in a single day earlier this year. 

On the trail, Hobbs has touted the bills that she has worked with Republicans on as her bipartisan credentials. 

Biggs, meanwhile, is a former chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and has represented Arizona's 5th District near Mesa for five terms.

The 2020 election has continued to be a contentious issue in Arizona, where former President Joe Biden won with a margin of just 0.3%, or 16,000 votes. Mr. Trump repeatedly insisted he had won the state, and it became a hotbed of conspiracy theories, especially after Fox News projected Biden's victory earlier than the other networks. 

Hobbs was the secretary of state who administered Arizona's 2020 election. 

Biggs, meanwhile, was among the members of Congress who challenged the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021. He was subpoenaed by the now-defunct House Jan. 6 select committee over his alleged involvement in plans to bring protesters to Washington on that day, as well as his efforts to convince state officials that the 2020 election had been stolen from Mr. Trump. His name appeared frequently in the final report. 

Biggs has also refused to say whether Hobbs won the 2022 election for governor. 

Arizona had long been considered a red state, but the state has become more purple. It voted for Mr. Trump in 2016, Biden in 2020 and then Mr. Trump in 2024. Both of the state's senators are Democrats, but Republicans control both houses of the state legislature.