PHOENIX, Ariz.—Incumbent U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) retains a commanding lead over his Republican challenger Blake Masters, despite early polls that showed the race as a toss-up.
According to Decision Desk HQ, with 74 percent (1,802,681 ballots) from all precinct votes counted, Kelly leads his opponent, 51.4 percent to 46.4 percent.
On Nov. 9, the race was still too close to declare a clear winner.
Questions surround mechanical errors that affected ballot tabulation machines in 60 out of 223 poll centers across key battleground Maricopa County early on Election Day.
Election officials said low printer toner prevented many ballots from being counted.
Poll workers advised impacted voters to cast their ballots at other county poll centers. Yet it remained unclear how many votes were set aside for adjudication.
A final tally isn’t expected until Nov. 11.
During the run-up to the election, Kelly’s campaign faced surprising strength from Masters’s, and the outcome of the election seemed far from certain.
Many independent polls showed the race as a toss-up.
Recent polls showed either Kelly and Masters running neck and neck or Kelly leading by 1 or 2 percentage points.
A New York Times poll put Kelly ahead, 51 percent to 45 percent.
Still, 36-year-old venture capitalist Masters ran what many viewed as a lackluster campaign after defeating two Republican opponents in the August primary.
Bolstered by former President Donald Trump’s endorsement and high-profile media appearances, Masters came within striking distance of Kelly in a matter of weeks, receiving an unexpected boost from Marc Victor, the Libertarian candidate for Senate in Arizona.
After showing poorly in the polls, he withdrew from the race last week and endorsed Masters.
“I found Blake to be generally supportive of the Live and Let Live Global Peace Movement,” Victor said in a statement.
“Likewise, we found ourselves in general agreement about how to improve America and to advance the cause of freedom and peace.”
Despite his departure, Victor still managed to garner 2.2 percent of the vote on Election Day.
On Nov. 4, celebrity Chuck Norris also endorsed Masters as one of his “Chuck Norris-approved candidates.”
Regarding campaign financing, Kelly consistently outperformed Masters, garnering more than $81.8 million.
Masters’s campaign raised more than $12 million, including a few significant 11th-hour contributions. But he would make it clear in his campaign that victory wouldn’t come cheaply, given the cost of targeted ads in Arizona’s most populous Maricopa County.
Throughout the campaign, Masters had fought a constant battle against partisan characterizations of him being a right-wing political “conspiracy theorist” and extremist.
Like Trump-endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, Masters didn’t accept the results of the 2020 election and defended his position in a debate with Kelly.
At numerous Trump-sponsored “Save America” rallies, which drew supporters in the tens of thousands, Masters used the political pulpit to his full advantage, denouncing Kelly and President Joe Biden for what he considered failed or immoral policies on border security, illegal immigration, abortion, the fentanyl crisis, high gas prices, and inflation.
Kelly, 58, a retired Navy combat pilot and NASA astronaut, had presented himself as a political unifier willing to “cross the aisle” and work on bipartisan legislation focused on achieving energy independence, expanding benefits for veterans, and building a 21st-century high-tech economy in Arizona.
The incumbent senator considered himself in good company with moderate Republicans who would later endorse him over the conservative Masters.
In 2020, Kelly was elected junior senator from Arizona in a special election prompted by the death of Sen. John McCain, a Republican.
