Former U.S. President Donald Trump poses with Republican candidate for Governor of Arizona Kari Lake in October
(Picture: REUTERS)Donald Trump suffered another blow as a high profile Republican candidate who peddled his false claims of voter fraud was projected to lose her bid to become the next governor of Arizona.
US news outlets said Kari Lake was set to lose the closely fought governors race to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the midterm elections.
Ms Lake was one of the most high-profile Republican candidates in the elections to embrace former President Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Her loss is significant as Arizona is a battleground state and will likely play a pivotal role in the 2024 race for the White House.
After the race was called, Ms Hobbs wrote on Twitter: “Democracy is worth the wait.”
Ms Lake had vowed to ban the state’s mail-in voting, which conspiracy theorists falsely claim is vulnerable to fraud.
The loss is another blow for Mr Trump ahead of his promised “very big announcement” on Tuesday evening - widely expected to be him confirming he is running again for the White House in 2024.
He has faced criticism for the poor showing that saw the Democrats hold on to the US Senate in the midterms.
The predicted “red wave” did not materialise with a number of his hand-picked candidates failing to win.
Democrats retained their control of the US Senate after keeping seats in the swing states of Arizona and Nevada, with Vice President Kamala Harris holding the tie-breaking vote.
The party could win outright majority control if Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock beats Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff on December 6, bolstering Democratic sway over committees, bills and judicial picks.
The Democratic victories defied expectations that voters would punish them for record inflation, including high gas and food prices.
Instead, Democrats were able to curb their losses, in part by mobilizing voters angry over the US Supreme Court decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion.
Still, Republicans continued to edge toward control of the House of Representatives.
As of Monday, Republicans had won 217 seats, with 218 needed for a majority. Control of the House would allow Republicans to hinder President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
