Trump flips Arizona, sweeping battleground states

Donald Trump has won the state of Arizona, completing a sweep of the battleground states, according to Decision Desk HQ’s projections.

Arizona is one of seven swing states that held the key to whether Trump or Vice President Harris returned to the White House. The Grand Canyon State went for Trump in 2016 by 3.5 points, but the former president narrowly lost it in 2020 against President Biden by just more than a quarter of a percentage point.

Trump had secured the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House by early Wednesday morning, following a roughly 100-day campaign between him and Harris. With the Arizona win, Trump has acquired a total of 312 votes, while Harris’s total is 226.

Several prominent Republicans in the state endorsed Harris, including former Sen. Jeff Flake, who most recently served as ambassador to Turkey during the Biden administration, and Mesa Mayor John Giles.

But even those prominent GOP defections were not enough to put Harris over the top.

The state became fertile ground for election denialism after the 2020 presidential election as Trump and others contested the results of the last presidential cycle despite audits and court challenges pointing to the fact that no widespread fraud occurred.

There was particular focus on Arizona this cycle given that it was also home to a competitive Senate race between Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Republican Kari Lake to replace retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I).

Most public polling ahead of Election Day showed Gallego leading Lake, and that split-ticket result seems to be coming to pass; the Senate race has yet to be called, but the Democrat leads in the votes that have been counted so far and is favored by Decision Desk HQ to maintain his lead and clinch the seat.