EXPLAINER: Why AP called Arizona for Biden

[JonLP24]

(Snip)

But changing demographics, including a fast-growing Latino population and a boom of new residents — some fleeing the skyrocketing cost of living in neighboring California — have made the state friendlier to Democrats.

Many of the gains have been driven by the shifting politics of Maricopa County, which is home to Phoenix and its suburbs. That’s where Biden sealed his victory. Maricopa County accounts for 60% of the state’s vote, and Biden ran up huge margins there.

In 2016, Trump carried the county by 4 percentage points, which helped propel him to a win. But two years later, Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema flipped the seat from Republican control by winning the county by 5 points.

When the AP called the race for Biden, he was leading there by 9 percentage points.

https://www.azfamily.com/news/politics/election_headquarters/explainer-why-ap-called-arizona-for-biden/article_924ca49e-1e9b-11eb-8d70-ab46aeff34e0.html

[Mike 03]

1. Vote counting in Maricopa can take a few days. In 2018, although Sinema led

the entire time, the vote counting lasted around five days. Her lead widened as more and more votes were counted. That was the "fun" part of it taking so long: watching Kyrsten Sinema's lead grow day by day.

[PTWB]

2. Has Joe's lead grown or shrunk over the last several hours?

[Dem2]

3. It hasn't changed for 15 hours at least.

[Indykatie]

4. Thank You Senator Elect Kelly and Cindy McCain

I'm sure both Kelly and McCain helped deliver AZ to Biden. John McCain would be pleased.