Scott MacFarlane: “Hobbs has been leading the state for four years, becoming a force inside her party.”
PHOENIX – Gov. Katie Hobbs joined Scott MacFarlane Reports to discuss her historic, bipartisan ticket and her commitment to keep delivering for Arizonans.
Scott MacFarlane Reports: EXCLUSIVE: Top Dem BLASTS Trump Ally in CRITICAL Race
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Scott MacFarlane: Also on the ballot in November, an incredibly important governor’s race, which could have outsized implications for 2028. In the battleground state of Arizona, the Republican challenger is a candidate with a history of being an election denier. If he were to become governor two years from now in 2028, he could have some impact on the certification of his state’s results, just like we saw in January 2021. The Republican challenger is Andy Biggs, and on Andy Biggs’ campaign literature and website he talks about the importance of quote ensuring election integrity. He writes he would “sign election integrity legislation to deliver election results in a timely fashion and ensure only legal Arizona citizens participate in our elections.” Andy Biggs is running to oust the Democratic incumbent. Katie Hobbs, who first won election, defeating Kari Lake in 2022. Katie Hobbs makes the argument in an extended interview with Scott MacFarlane Reports that Andy Biggs is a danger to election integrity himself and that he is no garden variety election denier.
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Scott MacFarlane: Andy Biggs is a known election denier here in Washington and I suspect back home.
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Gov. Katie Hobbs: Yes.
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Scott MacFarlane: Is that a 2020 and 2021 issue or do you think that still does resonate in Arizona?
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Gov. Katie Hobbs: I think it is a big concern for voters right now. I mean, Andy Biggs still won’t say–and this is recent–he won’t say that Joe Biden won 2020, he won’t say that I won in 2022. I want to really highlight, Andy Biggs is not just a run-of-the-mill election denier, he is a very special one. As a member of Congress, he refused to certify Arizona’s electors, he also was part of orchestrating the fake elector scheme that we saw play out, especially from swing states around the country, and he helped plan January 6. This is something he sought a presidential pardon for and has never answered for. He defied a congressional subpoena. So this is something we need to be concerned about in 2026. Trump wants Biggs in office to oversee the 2028 presidential election, and what that means for the country, in a state like Arizona, which is one of seven swing states that decide presidential elections, if he’s governor, Arizona is the first swing state overseen by an election denier.
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Scott MacFarlane: And it’s the first in the electoral college certification, as we learned in 2021, there’s a unique impact to that. But I’m wondering at a time of $5 a gallon gasoline and $1,900 refrigerators if people have the luxury of worrying about those things or if you have to try to hammer it home why it’s still important?
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Gov. Katie Hobbs: Well, I think that it is certainly something that I hear from folks across the state. I don’t know that it’s a top-of- mind issue that is what they’re specifically voting on, but it is absolutely a reason that we have to win this election to protect our democracy. I think people can focus on more than one issue at a time. And while affordability is a top issue, this certainly is something that I hear from folks. So we’re talking about both of them, and I think you know Andy Biggs is dangerous on both fronts.
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Scott MacFarlane: Governor Hobbs is one of the Democratic incumbents and Democratic candidates blending together a message about affordability and about the self-dealing of the federal government, arguing that things cost too much from housing, to healthcare, to food, to fuel, while Washington, the Trump administration, seem myopically focused on vanity projects and grandeur in Washington DC. How do you think you can outflank the Republican challenger on prices when they’re a problem and you’re the one in office?
- Gov. Katie Hobbs: Well, look, I think that I hear from Arizonans across the state about rising costs and they are squarely on the shoulders of Washington and Washington policies that my opponent Andy Biggs has continued to champion.
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Scott MacFarlane: Do your constituents know it’s a Washington issue, or do they want to just blame the person in front of them, you know, their mayor, their city council, or their governor?
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Gov. Katie Hobbs: I mean, I think costs are complex, housing is especially complex. I’ve been taking action to address that. And I think right now they know it’s Washington. They know it’s about the tariffs. They know it’s about the war in Iran. Andy Biggs has said things like, “there’s no inflation,” “the tariffs seem to be working.” The fact is housing is more expensive because of tariffs, building materials are costing more, it’s costing more to build housing. Energy costs are making everything more expensive because everything we buy in stores gets delivered, or you know, people getting things delivered to their homes. People understand it is Washington and Andy Biggs does not get a pass for that, he’s continued to double down on this agenda that’s raising costs for Arizonans.
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Scott MacFarlane: Arizona is unequivocally a purple state and Governor Hobbs is fighting to galvanize support, mobilize voters, knowing that Maricopa County, the population center of Arizona, decides so many things. It can decide local elections, it can decide statewide elections, and she is trying to push through a message that resonates. The choice you made for your nominee for lieutenant governor, for your running mate for lieutenant governor, it’s a Republican mayor from Mesa. What’s the reaction been?
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Gov. Katie Hobbs: It’s been really enthusiastic and I picked John Giles to join the ticket because we both are focused on delivering for Arizonans and putting the partisan politics aside to do that. While we come from different parties, we share the belief that leadership is about bringing people together to tackle the tough challenges. And we’ve worked together for a long time. When he was mayor of Mesa, I saw him taking the same approach to governing that I’ve taken, that I’ve focused on tackling the issues and working together to do that. Now he has since switched to Independent. But you know he’s supported a lot of Democrats including me when I ran for governor in 2022 and we’ve spent a lot of time together on the trail this week and he’s said a few times you know I endorsed her and then I was hoping that she didn’t embarrass me by the choices she made as governor and she hasn’t and so I think that we share values that ensure that you know we’re going to be able to work together to continue putting Arizona over party and deliver for the people we’re elected to represent.
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Scott MacFarlane: How big of a wave do you anticipate Democrats enjoying in Arizona? Because, you know, the balance of power in the U.S. House is a pretty important thing and a lot of people think it goes through Arizona
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Gov. Katie Hobbs: Well, look, I’m not taking a single thing for granted in this election. Arizona is a swing state, a swing state that Donald Trump won with 5 and a half percent which is the largest margin of any swing state, and our electorate is plus nine Republicans. So that means as a Democrat running statewide, I have to outperform by almost double digits to pull to a tie. So I’m not listening to the polls or the pundits, I am working hard every day to earn every single vote that I can and make sure that Arizonans know the choice they have in this election, that it’s a choice between leadership that puts Arizona first and someone who is going to put Washington policies and partisan division first and going to keep hammering that message home every single day.
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Scott MacFarlane: Really was an impactful election in 2022 when Katie Hobbs defeated Kari Lake. Hobbs has been leading the state for four years, becoming a force inside her party.
