<p>Democrat&nbsp;<a class="person-popover__link" href="https://thehill.com/people/katie-hobbs/" _mce_href="https://thehill.com/people/katie-hobbs/">Katie Hobbs&nbsp;</a>is projected to win the race for governor in Arizona, defeating high-profile Republican Kari Lake after a contentious and down-to-the-wire election.</p> <p>NBC News and CNN both projected the race for Hobbs on Monday night.</p> <p>The victory is the latest major win for Democrats in what has turned out to be a surprisingly good midterm election for the party. While the race was always seen as competitive, Lake came out slightly ahead of Hobbs in most recent polling. The Republican also got heavy media coverage in the final weeks of the election, while Hobbs was scrutinized for refusing to debate her rival.</p> <p>It also represents an important victory for Republicans opposed to former President Trump. Several of them crossed the aisle to oppose Lake, a vocal ally of Trump.</p>