Governors: Post-Primary Bottom Lines (AZ, FL, OK)

The following Bottom Lines have been updated following this week's primaries in Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey campaigned in 2014 on his record of success in business and a promise to focus on the state’s economy. In office, he has made good on that promise, and has largely avoided getting caught up in the ideological battles that rage within the party and the legislature. Perhaps it’s not surprising that he got a primary challenge to his right from former Secretary of State Ken Bennett; Ducey easily won the contest with 71 percent. Democrats have argued that Arizona is becoming a blue state, although they don’t have many statewide victories to bolster their case. What they can point to are close races, like Donald Trump’s four-point victory in 2016, and GOP U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake’s three-point win in 2012. They hope that nominee David Garcia, an education consultant who has served as an Assistant Superintendent of the Arizona Department of Education, will boost their premise that the state is changing. He won the Democratic primary with 49