Democrats flip Arizona Senate seat

Washington, Nov 13 (IANS) Democratic Representative Kyrsten Sinema is set to win Arizona's Senate race, defeating her Republican rival Martha McSally and flipping a seat that had been in Republican hands for 24 years.McSally conceded the hard-fought race on Monday night -- six days after the midterm elections were held on November 6 -- as county-by-county tallies of mailed-in ballots continued to increase Sinema's lead, reports CNN."I just called Kyrsten Sinema and congratulated her on becoming Arizona's first female senator after a hard-fought battle. I wish her all success as she represents Arizona in the Senate," McSally said in a video posted on Twitter.The win comes despite President Donald Trump and Republicans pushing false conspiracy theories about why ballots in Arizona were taking so long to count.Trump tweeted on November 9 that "electoral corruption" was taking place and suggested Arizona should have a new election. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, in an email to reporters, accused the Maricopa County recorder of trying to "cook the books" for Sinema.The upheaval comes as Arizona, long a Republican bastion, emerges as a swing state in presidential elections. In the 2016 elections, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost to Trump by just 4 percentage points there.The result, and the state's growing Latino population, solidified Arizona as a battleground moving forward.
--IANS ksk