Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema declares victory in race to replace John McCain

(TITLE CORRECTION: Sinema replaces Senator Jeff Flake (R).

The methods Arizona uses to confirm and count mail-in ballots is complicated, so it is not surprising that the count is taking longer than some – particularly President Trump and the GOP – would like. The race between Democrat Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Rep. Martha McSally was originally called “Too close to call” on election night.

But by the end of the day Sunday, Sinema had over 32,000 votes more than McSally.

Sinema, who is openly bisexual, would be the first open bisexual to serve in the United State Senate. She joins Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) as the second LGBT+ member of the Senate.

Related: Bisexual congresswoman running for Senate

There are still 162,000 votes to be counted in Democrat leaning Maricopa County. The reason the tally takes so long is that, by Arizona law, each mail-in ballot  envelope bears the signature of the voter. That signature has to be verified as matching the one on file in the Secretary of State’s office.

Nevertheless, given the way the vote tally is going, Sinema’s campaign manager, Andrew Piatt, declared victory in the face with a statement on Instagram, saying, “Kyrsten has now expanded her overall lead to 32,640 or 1.52 percent, meaning McSally would have to win the remainder of Maricopa County ballots by 22 percent to take the lead in this race. This is not plausible. Kyrsten will be declared the next U.S. Senator from Arizona.”

As early as Friday, President Trump and some Republicans became alarmed. Trump tweeted, “"Just out — in Arizona, SIGNATURES DON'T MATCH. Electoral corruption - Call for a new Election? We must protect our Democracy!"

Many of Arizona’s Republican officials distanced themselves from the President’s remarks. Just reelected GOP Governor Doug Ducey, tweeted, "We often hear the phrase: Every vote matters. And the #AZSen race is proof. So let's get this right. All legally cast votes MUST be counted. Lawful votes in EVERY county in the state MUST be counted," Ducey tweeted hours after Trump.

Retiring Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) piled on, tweeting, "There is no evidence of 'electoral corruption' in Arizona, Mr. President. Thousands of dedicated Arizonans work in a non-partisan fashion every election cycle to ensure that every vote is counted. We appreciate their service.”

The Arizona vote count continues, but at this point it appears certain that Krysten Sinema will ultimately be the victor.

Copyright The Gayly – November 12, 2018 @ 3:45 p.m. CST.