The Republican Governors Association (RGA) blasted Arizona’s Democrat gubernatorial nominee, Katie Hobbs, for appearing unable to respond specifically to a question about how the Hispanic community has impacted her.
“It’s not surprising to see Katie Hobbs struggle to describe how she’s been influenced by the Latino Community, because she doesn’t share any of their values and that’s why they’re abandoning her in droves. Kari Lake, who is married to a Latino, does share the same values of protecting life and creating safe communities to promote strong families,” Ross Trumble, Lake’s communications director, told The Arizona Sun Times.
The Sun Times reached out to the Katie Hobbs’ campaign for a comment on this situation but did not receive a response before publication time.
The comments under fire occurred on Monday while Hobbs spoke at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce AZ gubernatorial forum. Journalist León Krauze of the Spanish-language news outlet Univision asked Hobbs the question.
“Today, today, you said that growing up in Arizona, you have seen and heard how impactful the migrant community, talking about the Hispanic community, has been. Let me ask you, how has it impacted you personally? What have you learned – specifically learned – from the Latino community?” Krauze asked.
At first, Hobbs appeared to dance around the question, initially saying she does not “think about it that way,” rather, she values her relationships across the board with “different folks.” Hobbs said she learns from all the people in her life, including her Latino sister-in-law and family.
“I love hanging out with them and practicing my Español,” Hobbs said.
She further said that Hispanic culture is so entwined with Arizona culture that “Arizona wouldn’t be Arizona without what the Latino community brings” and that it is difficult for her to subtract one from the other.
“So, there’s not one specific lesson you could share. Other than the Español. It’s one-third of the state,” Krauze said in response.
After being pressed, Hobbs stammered out an answer about the community’s values of family and hard work.
“Uh, yes, absolutely. I mean, I think there’s, there’s many lessons: the, the emphasis on, uh, family values, uh, hard work, uh … those are something that I value in my own life, and you know, uh, it’s something that I respect,” Hobbs said.
The Republican Governors Association said Hobbs “struck out” when asked a “softball question” that a third of Arizona voters should get an answer to.
“Katie Hobbs and her team know her largest liability is her inability to connect with voters on issues that matter,” said RGA spokesman Will Reinert. “Yet, Hobbs still struck out when asked an important, yet softball, question, that a third of the voters in Arizona deem incredibly important.”
Racism has been a point of contention for Hobbs, with Lake calling her a twice-convicted racist. This claim stems from the 2015 firing of Talonya Adams, a black woman who worked as a policy advisor under then-Senate Minority Leader Hobbs. She discovered her white and male counterparts were being paid more than her, so she asked for her pay to be raised to the level of her co-workers. Then, after taking a pre-approved family leave, the Senate informed her she was being terminated. Adams then sued the Senate and won, resulting in $2.75 million in damages, although state law caps the reward at $300,000. Adams received her money on September 21.
Hobbs issued an apology video apologizing to Adams for the harm she caused. Although, as 12 News reported, Adams did not accept Hobbs’s apology, saying it was designed to “get her over a political hurdle.”
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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 “Katie Hobbs” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
