The Associated Press called the race for Hobbs, who currently serves as Arizona’s secretary of state, on Monday—nearly one week after polls closed.
Hobbs has held a lead of 50.4 percent to Lake’s 49.6 percent, with 98 percent of the votes reported as of Tuesday morning, per CNN.
Lake’s loss is part of an underwhelming midterm for Republicans who did not win control of the Senate and are poised to win only a House majority—despite President Joe Biden’s low-approval rating and economic concerns surrounding inflation.
Democrats celebrated her defeat, dotting social media with memes and posts expressing relief that Lake, who has been a vocal proponent of the unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, will not lead the key swing state.
Some social media users resurfaced the earlier footage of Lake saying that “God is on our side” following Hobbs’ win.
“God is on our side,” she said to a cheering crowd, according to the clip. “We are truly fighting pure evil right now. It is evil what we are dealing with in this world. It’s coming from the Left. It’s coming from their spokespeople in the media.”
Attorney Ron Filipkowski, an attorney who has opposed Lake and other Republicans, quipped that “God isn’t a Republican” in a Monday evening tweet featuring the original video he posted in September.
“Turns out, God wasn’t on Kari Lake’s side after all…” remarked the musical act USA Singers on Twitter.
“I guess God wasn’t on @KariLake’s side after all. I’m not a person of faith, but if there is a god, I can’t imagine that god is a sports fan,” attorney Robert Murphy tweeted.
Lake has not yet conceded the race. After the contest was called, she tweeted that “Arizonans know BS when they see it.”
Throughout the campaign, Lake declined to commit to accepting the results of the election regardless of whether she won. During an October 16 episode of CNN’s State of the Union, host Dana Bash pressed the Republican on whether she would concede.
“I’m going to win the election, and I will accept that result,” Lake responded. “The people of Arizona will never support and vote for a coward like Katie Hobbs who won’t show up on a debate stage.”
Trump suggested the election might have been rigged against Lake in a Truth Social post, writing: “Wow! They just took the election away from Kari Lake. It’s really bad out there!” Despite his claim, there has been no credible evidence presented indicating the election was stolen.
Newsweek reached out to the Lake campaign for comment.
