Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake put her Democrat opponent Katie Hobbs on blast for only appearing in office for her current job as secretary of state for 19 days in the past six months.
“Katie Hobbs failed to show up to her current job and failed to be interviewed in a debate format for the job she wants as governor, yet expects a promotion anyway, just like every other failed career politician. The facts are clear that Hobbs is not capable of properly administering this election. Election integrity is a bipartisan issue, and Katie Hobbs’ refusal to take her real job seriously is a threat to democracy. The voters of Arizona cannot trust Katie Hobbs to run this election, and she should do the right thing by recusing herself immediately,” said the Kari Lake campaign.
🚨 Statement from Kari Lake campaign on @KatieHobbs failure to show up to work:
"Hobbs is not capable of properly administering this election…the voters of Arizona cannot trust Katie Hobbs to run this election, and she should do the right thing by recusing herself immediately. pic.twitter.com/7vqf7UGlHq
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) October 20, 2022
The Arizona Sun Times reached out to the secretary of state’s office for comment but did not receive a response before publishing.
The news of Hobbs’ absence from the office initially came from an investigation conducted by Fox News. The outlet tracked her time in the office from April 1 to October 14. Reportedly, some of Hobbs’ absences have lasted over a week, with the longest being nearly a month in April and August.
In an interview with KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Barry Markson, Hobbs spoke a bit about her daily life, insisting she is still active in her current position.
“My day starts before eight and ends well after five. In addition to the campaign trail, I’m also still Secretary of State and actively involved with my office,” Hobbs said.
According to Fox News, this interview occurred on October 13, when Hobbs had not visited her office in nearly a week. When asked for an explanation by the outlet, an office spokesperson said that Hobbs and several other staff members had opted to work remotely, just as many other Americans have chosen to do since the pandemic began. The spokesperson said Hobbs’ absence from the office does not reflect her commitment to her role.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
As Secretary of State (who literally oversees the very election she is running in) Katie Hobbs only showed up to work 19 days in the last 6 months
Perhaps this is why Arizonans are getting faulty ballots? Your thoughts? pic.twitter.com/EiNbO9XlGq
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) October 20, 2022
However, Lake argued that Hobbs’ absence does harm the state. In its statement, the Lake campaign alleged that Hobbs showed up in her office on August 2, primary election day, but did not return to the state capital for three weeks, despite concerns with ballot counting.
“Given that Hobbs isn’t showing up to work, holding events, showing up for debates, or engaging with reporters, it’s unclear what exactly Katie Hobbs is spending all her time doing. However, as Arizona’s chief elections officer, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ most important job is to administer a free and fair election,” the Lake campaign said in a communication to The Sun Times.
Moreover, this news broke the day after Hobbs acknowledged that upwards of 6,000 voters had been affected by an error in the voter registration system. AP News reported that the issue was caused by a problem linking voter registrations to the driver’s license database, which improperly flagged thousands of voters as lacking proof of citizenship. Roughly 1,000 of these Arizonans requested a mail-in ballot, and this faulty flagging meant they received federal-only ballots.
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kari Lake” by The Kari Lake. Photo “Katie Hobbs” by Katie Hobbs. Background Photo “Arizona State Capitol” by Wars. CC BY-SA 3.0.
