Abstract <p>A self-consistent model describing a glow discharge in argon with a liquid-phase (distilled water) anode is presented. The model is based on an extended hydrodynamic description of plasma and takes into account the heating of the metal cathode and liquid-phase anode, as well as the equilibrium evaporation of water molecules into the discharge gap and the kinetics of elementary processes involving them. A numerical study is performed for two key cases: the discharge initiation in a pure argon atmosphere and that with the initial presence of water molecules at a concentration corresponding to the saturated vapor pressure at an initial liquid-phase anode temperature of 293 K. For the first case, it is shown that a change in the plasma-forming ion from <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\({\text{Ar}}_{2}^{ + }\)</EquationSource> <!--PlasPhys2560409Saifutdinov-m1--> </InlineEquation> to the hydrated cluster <InlineEquation ID="IEq2"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\({{{\text{H}}}_{9}}{\text{O}}_{4}^{ + }\)</EquationSource> <!--PlasPhys2560409Saifutdinov-m2--> </InlineEquation> ion and also a change in the dominant negatively charged particle from the electron to the OH^– ion are observed during the evaporation of water molecules. For the second case, it is shown that <InlineEquation ID="IEq3"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\({{{\text{H}}}_{9}}{\text{O}}_{4}^{ + }\)</EquationSource> <!--PlasPhys2560409Saifutdinov-m3--> </InlineEquation> is the dominant positive ion over the entire time interval. The competition between electrons and OH^– ions on times up to ~0.01 s was detected for negatively charged particles. The OH^– ion becomes the dominant negatively charged particle at times larger than 1 s but the electron density remains comparable by the order of magnitude, which is critical for maintaining plasma conductivity.</p>