With Republican candidate Kari Lake's concession still yet to materialize, incumbent Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey congratulated Democrat Katie Hobbs for her win in the state's governor race.
Ducey, himself a Republican, affirmed major news outlet's projections from last week that declared Hobbs the winner of the hotly-contested race, which saw the Arizona secretary of state prevail by only 17,000 over Lake – 50.3% to 49.7%.
"Today I congratulated Governor-elect Katie Hobbs on her victory in a hard-fought race and offered my full cooperation as she prepares to assume the leadership of the State of Arizona," Ducey wrote in a Wednesday statement. "My administration will work to make this transition as smooth and seamless as possible."
"All of us have waited patiently for the democratic process to play out. The people of Arizona have spoken, their votes have been counted, and we respect their decision," he added.
His decision comes after Lake indicated her intention to challenge the Election Day results, which were plagued by printer malfunctions at 70 vote centers in Maricopa County. According to county officials, the errors likely affected 7% of voters on Nov. 8.
Maricopa County Board Supervisor Bill Gates assured shortly after Election Day that the 17,000 affected votes in question would go "through the quality assurance check, and those will be tabulated throughout the week."
Even after the votes were counted, Lake promised voters through a Twitter video message last week that she was still fighting to be the next governor of Arizona.
"I wanted to reach out to you to let you know that I am still in this fight with you," Lake said. "For two years, I've been sounding the alarm about our broken election system here in Arizona. And this past week has confirmed everything we've been saying."
"I'm doing everything in my power to right these wrongs. My resolve to fight for you is higher than ever," she continued. "This fight to save our republic has just begun. I love you, Arizona. And I love you, America."
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