One of the most anticipated election results from this week has come in as Kari Lake is the projected winner of the Republican gubernatorial primary in Arizona.

The race was called after Maricopa County, which was still counting ballots, updated their numbers Thursday evening, putting Lake decisively ahead of her opponent.

Maricopa has posted 43,925 ballots to R Gov
THIS batch breakdown@karilake 52.3%@Karrin4Arizona 40.6%

Lake now leads Robson 19,641

— The AZ – abc15 – Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) August 5, 2022

In a statement, Lake declared victory for the second time this week. “This is more than an election,” she said. “It is a beautiful movement by so many people across our beautiful state to finally put Arizona First.”

Lake was the Trump-backed candidate in the race, pitted primarily against Karrin Taylor Robson, who was endorsed by Mike Pence and current Governor Doug Ducey.

On election night, Lake was confident she would be the winner.

At a watch party Tuesday night, Lake took to the stage at a Doubletree in Scottsdale three times as votes trickled in — at one point wielding a sledgehammer she said was intended for electronic voting machines and the Democratic nominee for governor — to tell hundreds of supporters that she won.

“There is no path to victory for my opponent, and we won this race. Period,” she said at her first appearance, when vote totals had Taylor Robson in the lead. “I don’t want any of you not to believe that.”

“And I want to thank President Donald J. Trump,” she added to the energized crowd decked out in Lake gear and “not my president” shirts. “He’s the one that got this whole thing going.”

Lake will face Democratic primary winner Katie Hobbs in the general election in November.