Pinal County Sheriff Slams Katie Hobbs over New Border Campaign Ad

Neil Jones

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb blasted a new border security campaign ad from Democrat gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs in a statement Tuesday, claiming Arizona can’t afford to have her as governor.

“Katie Hobbs has openly opposed filling the border wall gaps and supported ending Title 42, which makes our jobs harder and puts us in the line of fire,” Lamb said in a release from the Kari Lake campaign. “We cannot afford a governor who will do nothing to stop the unprecedented human trafficking and drug trafficking at our southern border.”

The ad shows Hobbs at the border while two sheriffs speak in her favor. They claim Hobbs “will deliver whatever resources are needed to keep you safe,” that she is “not here to politicize the border,” and Hobbs “is about action.”

However, Ben Petersen, communications director for the Republican National Committee Arizona, shared that one of the sheriffs in the ad, David Hathaway, had previously downplayed the situation at the southern border.

https://twitter.com/bennpetersen/status/1565006493736349701

Moreover, as Lamb mentioned, Hobbs has previously spoken against some border security measures. In an interview with 3TV/CBS 5’s Dennis Welch, he asked if Hobbs agreed with President Joe Biden’s decision to repeal Title 42.

“Title 42 isn’t working,” she replied.

However, in April, Hobbs backpedaled this answer in a statement her team called an elaboration on her previous response.

“Title 42 isn’t working, as evidenced by the fact that border crossings in Arizona have continued to increase since this policy was put in place – but lifting Title 42 without a clear plan to secure our border would be irresponsible,” according to Hobbs’ border security plan.

Hobbs also told The Arizona Republic that it was “ridiculous that we are talking about this as a core issue in the governor’s race,” in reference to Title 42.

Furthermore, 12 News’ Brahm Resnik asked if she would support filling gaps in the Yuma sector where “people can just walk right through.”

“If a wall was the solution, then the wall would be done. That is what Donald Trump ran on and he had that ability to do that when he was president,” Hobbs said in response.

In a video, Hobbs said that Washington has “kicked the can down the road” on addressing border issues for decades and that “Republicans don’t actually want to solve it [border issues] so that they can keep hitting us over the head with it every election.” Hobbs said her plan as governor would involve supporting border communities with cooperation and intelligence from Phoenix and working with Congress to get comprehensive immigration reform.

Turning from the topic of Hobbs, Lamb shared support for Republican Kari Lake, who he said would provide action at the border.

“Kari Lake has a bold and aggressive plan to help end the border crisis here in Arizona. Her plan would declare an invasion at the southern border and mobilize the resources and personnel that Arizona needs to keep our communities safe from human trafficking and the deadly fentanyl poison that is harming Arizona families everyday. You’re going to hear tough talk from her opponent about securing the border, but that is more political BS just to get your vote,” Lamb said. “We don’t need politics, we need action, which is why Kari Lake is the only candidate for governor that can help law enforcement protect Arizona.”

As reported by The Arizona Sun times, Lake’s plan to tackle the border crisis includes leading a coalition of like-minded states in making a border security compact.

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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 Katie Hobbs. 

 

 

 

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