Arizona Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs said on Thursday that for a second consecutive election, she will not participate in a debate.
Hobbs previously refused to participate in her primary and general election debates in 2022 before she stole the election from Trump-endorsed Kari Lake.
In a statement, Hobbs’ campaign manager Nicole DeMont told 12 News, “We respectfully decline debate invitations in this campaign because face-to-face engagement with Arizonans is more effective than a stage designed for short soundbites and political theater.”
DeMont went on to say that Hobbs has done “more than 100 open-press events”; therefore, she’s exempt from the tradition of defending her candidacy on the debate stage.
Hobbs’ team issued a similar statement amid the controversy during the last election cycle, blaming the circumstances surrounding the debate, when she refused to square off against Kari Lake.
“Debating a conspiracy theorist like Kari Lake – whose entire campaign platform is to cause enormous chaos and make Arizona the subject of national ridicule – would only lead to constant interruptions, pointless distractions, and childish name-calling,” the Hobbs campaign said last year.
“Arizonans deserve so much better than Kari Lake, and that’s why we’re confident Katie Hobbs will be elected our next governor.”
Drew Sexton, a Senior Advisor to Andy Biggs, slammed Hobbs in a statement to The Gateway Pundit, highlighting her past corruption scandals and noting that Biggs will still participate in the scheduled debate.
Sexton responded, writing,
“The independent and persuadable voters up for grabs in Arizona deserve to hear from statewide candidates in a traditional debate setting, one that was held in every Arizona gubernatorial race since 1954 until Katie Hobbs ran for the position in 2022.
Every other statewide Democrat in 2022 and 2024 decided to debate in the general election, but Katie Hobbs thinks the rules don’t apply to her. That may be why she’s also under criminal investigation for corruption and why she’s already been publicly rejected by her first choice for Lt. Governor.
Whatever her reason is, it won’t stop Andy Biggs from campaigning across the state and participating in the Clean Elections Debate on October 6th to ask for the votes of every Arizonan of every background.
Katie Hobbs can avoid the debate stage but she won’t get to avoid voters in November.”
Of course, the real reason Hobbs won’t debate is that, aside from being plagued by scandals, she has no real ideas to run on.
Just last week, Hobbs got blasted after she attempted to steal credit for the State Republicans’ no-tax-on-tips budget proposal, originally inspired by Trump’s no-tax-on-tips policy at the federal level.
“Here in Arizona, we eliminated taxes on tips so that service workers like the guys here at Chili Pepper in Yuma can keep every dollar they earn through tips. As families struggle with high costs because of Washington’s misguided policies, I’m working to put more money in Arizonans’ pockets, and we did just that with my fourth bipartisan balanced budget that cut taxes for hardworking families,” Hobbs claimed in a video statement.
Conveniently, she didn’t mention that the Republican State Legislature passed the provision as part of the 2026 budget, which sought to mirror Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
WATCH:
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Democrat Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Ratioed on X After Taking Credit for Trump’s No Tax on Tips Rule (VIDEO)
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