Biden Lead In Arizona Drops To Under 15K Votes: Election Results

ARIZONA — Former Vice President Joe Biden is now the president-elect, but Arizona's vote count is still underway and will likely finish midweek. With every new batch of results, Biden's lead against President Donald Trump narrows.

A new batch of votes from Maricopa County released Monday night put Biden below 15,000 votes in his bid to win Arizona's 11 Electoral College votes. As of Thursday morning, the difference was just 11,635 votes.

The race has already been called in the state by two news outlets, Fox News and The Associated Press. The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit in Arizona, alleging that Maricopa County votes were "incorrectly rejected." The lawsuit is part of a broader strategy by the campaign file litigation to try to have votes discarded while alleging voter fraud. There are no credible claims of widespread voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. Lawsuits filed by the campaign in Michigan and Georgia have been thrown out.

The deadline for voters to fix any issues with signature verification was Tuesday at 5 p.m. The state has approximately 24,738 ballots left to count, according to the Arizona Secretary of State's office.

The Associated Press and Fox News both projected that Democrat Mark Kelly will defeat Sen. Martha McSally in the race for Arizona's open seat in the U.S. Senate. McSally has not yet made a public comment about the race since Election Night.

Here are the most recent election results for the presidency, as of Thursday at 8 a.m.:

Joe Biden: 1,663,447

Donald Trump: 1,651,812

Here are the most recent election results for the U.S. Senate race between Mark Kelly and Martha McSally, as of Wednesday at 8 a.m.:

Mark Kelly: 1,707,405

Martha McSally: 1,628,174

If the projection holds for Biden, it's the first time the state has voted for a Democratic president since Bill Clinton in 1996.

In explaining why it called the race for Biden, the AP said it did so "after an analysis of ballots cast statewide concluded there were not enough outstanding to allow Trump to catch up."

With Kelly's election, Arizona will send two Democratic senators to the Capitol for the first time since Barry Goldwater won his long-held seat in 1953.

Neither Trump nor McSally have conceded the Arizona races. The vote count will continue until all votes are counted. Arizona law dictates that voters have five business days to fix any ballot signature issues, so a final vote tally likely won't be available until Tuesday.

Arizona's Senate race has gained national attention this year, as it was one that was seen as key to tipping power in the U.S. Senate, currently held by Republican lawmakers, toward the Democratic Party. Kelly and former Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado are projected to have defeated their Republican opponents, while Democratic Sen. Doug Jones lost his seat to Republican challenger Tommy Tuberville in Alabama. Democrats needed to gain four seats in the Senate with the expected loss of Jones to gain control.

The battle between Kelly and McSally has become the state's most expensive political race ever, with the two candidates pulling in over $133.7 million as of Sept. 30.

Republican McSally had raised $50.9 million, while Kelly reported raising $82.8 million by that point, according to FEC reports.

McSally has held the Senate seat since she was appointed in 2019 by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey following the death of longtime Republican Sen. John McCain. McSally lost in the 2018 election to Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. She previously served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives following an illustrious military career; McSally was the first American woman to fly in combat and the first to command a fighter plane.

Kelly is a veteran himself, serving in the U.S. Navy before becoming an astronaut for NASA. He retired in 2011, shortly after his wife, former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head while meeting with constituents in Tucson. The assassination attempt left Giffords with lifelong injuries and killed six people. In response, Giffords and Kelly, a former registered independent, became gun control advocates and formed the Giffords foundation.

Long a Republican stronghold, Arizona has turned blue in 2020, according to the projections. Trump won the state by nearly 4 points in 2016.

Both campaigns made Arizona a focal point in the weeks before the election. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both made several stops throughout the Grand Canyon State. Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), made one official visit to Phoenix on Oct. 8, with Harris returning on her own Oct. 28.

Even major Arizona Republican names, including former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, endorsed Biden for the presidency.

Arizona's changing demographics have made it a key state in 2020. The home of late Republican Sens. John McCain and Barry Goldwater has seen a slight shift to the left in recent years, due to an increase in population and an uptick in its registered Latino voters.

But Republicans are still a mainstay in the state, especially in the populous Maricopa County. The county's new registered voters counted more Republicans than any other party.

But even with projected winners, Arizona ballots are still being counted.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs had previously warned that results might not be ready Nov. 3. That is largely due to the historically high number of mail-in ballots expected this year, and high voter turnout. Arizona has counted over 3 million ballots for the first time ever.

"The election doesn't end on Election Day," Hobbs said at a news conference Oct. 14.