Katie Hobbs Discusses Her Plans for Arizona

Remember the old cliché that actions speak louder than words?

Well, consider the actions the 2022 Arizona Democratic and Republican Gubernatorial Nominees took after winning in the primaries on August 2, 2022.

Arizona Secretary of State and known problem solver Katie Hobbs embarked on a Solutions Can’t-Wait Tour to the Salt River Indian Community, Tucson, and Yuma to speak with voters and discuss their concerns on the issues of the water crisis, economic growth for small businesses, and women’s reproductive freedom and right to choose.

Former news anchor and current Trump Republican-Big Lie subscriber Kari Lake decided to make the pilgrimage to the annual CPAC conference where convicted Steve Bannon led a standing ovation for her and audience members had earlier been fawning over the ethnocentric and white nationalist verses of Hungarian Leader Viktor Orban.

Voters should be able to learn a lot from the actions these two nominees took over the last week.

Furthermore, they should also examine the words on each candidate’s websites, especially in the sections where they offer plans for what they would do if they were elected Governor.

Ms. Lake offers little more than the current vintage of fringe Republican talking points on issues including the right to bear arms, the Big Lie of the 2020 Presidential Election, denying a woman’s right to choose, and attacking history teachers.

When one goes to Secretary Hobbs’s website, the cupboard of ideas that will lift people up and move the state forward is getting fuller by the day with policy proposals on reducing costs, protecting people’s rights, access to the ballot, and sustainability-resiliency.

Secretary Hobbs recently sat with Blog for Arizona to discuss her plans for winning the Governorship in November and her proposals for governing when she takes office in January 2023.

The questions and her responses are below.

• Please tell the voters at least three reasons they should vote for you over Ms. Lake.

“First and foremost, this race for governor is, I don’t think, about Democrats or Republicans. It’s really a choice between sanity or chaos. I’m someone who’s battle-tested as a statewide leader, with a track record of working across the aisle to get the job done for Arizonans. Some examples of that are from my time in the State Legislature. I worked with two Republican governors to expand healthcare to over 500,000 Arizonans, tackle the opioid epidemic, and hold criminals accountable by working to clear the rape kit backlog. Then as Secretary of State, I took a wasteful and mismanaged office and worked with Democrats and Republicans to streamline operations, fix broken systems and make the office accountable to the people of Arizona. And, you know, Arizonans are tired of politicians like Kari Lake who peddle conspiracy theories and won’t stop talking about the 2020 election. They’re tired of being made fun of on late-night television.

The second thing is that I am focused on talking with Arizonans about the issues that matter most like rising costs, attacks on our reproductive freedoms, our neglected education system, and our water crisis. In fact, I started the general election campaign with my Solutions Can’t-Wait Tour where we crisscrossed Southern Arizona. We will be doing the same thing in other parts of the state, talking to community leaders about these issues and how we can bring people together to solve them. Meanwhile, Kari Lake’s first act as the Republican nominee was to fly out of state to speak to a far-right political conference, CPAC in Texas, where she mimicked stabbing John McCain. I’m not sure how that works to benefit Arizonans.

Finally, on the issue specifically of election integrity, Kari Lake is still calling to decertify the 2020 election, which seems to be a concept she made up. She continues to spread conspiracy theories about the last election while refusing to say if she’d accept the results of this upcoming election, and also refusing to say if she’d certify the 2024 presidential election as governor.

I think the contrast there could not be more clear. In 2020 in the middle of a pandemic, we ensured that no voter had to choose between their freedom to vote and their health and safety, and the result of that was Arizonans going to the polls in historic numbers and us conducting the most secure election in our state’s history.”

• Please advise what are at least three main issues in the Arizona Gubernatorial race. Please explain.

“What I’m hearing from Arizonans across the state, first and foremost, is the issue of affordability. Arizonans are suffering from the highest costs in decades, and we’re experiencing higher inflation relative to other states. At the same time, Kari Lake has said, quote, the economy is doing great right now. I’m certainly not hearing from Arizonans that I talk to that they think the economy’s doing great. But that probably explains why Kari Lake is not offering any solutions. We proposed the Affordable Arizona Plan, which you can find at katiehobbs.org. This plan puts more money back in the pockets of working families without raising taxes. That’s going to go right back to our economy and help create growth.

The second issue is abortion and reproductive rights. Kari Lake is 100% against safe and legal abortion. She wants to outlaw abortion and require prison time for doctors, speaking up in support of the territorial era ban that Arizona is now operating under. She even supports forced pregnancy for victims of rape and incest and is a threat to our access to contraception. As governor, I’ll fight to change our existing state laws to better safeguard access to abortion, reproductive healthcare and planning services, sex education, and family support, and also veto any legislation that further compromises our right to safe and legal abortion.

The third issue is education. This has been at the forefront of voters’ minds for as long as I’ve been in the legislature and the legislature continues to fail to invest, really neglecting our public schools. Kari Lake wants to put government cameras in our kids’ classrooms. She wants to arm teachers with weapons of war, even rocket launchers. Our schools should not become battlefields. Both of my sisters are teachers and what we need to be doing in schools is addressing the needs of students, parents, and teachers, so that every single Arizonan has access to quality public education. We need to pay teachers more. We need to stop asking them to do more with less. We need to recruit more counselors and support our students. So those are a few things at the top of our education plan but again, the contrast there could not be more clear.”

Please discuss your plan for a statewide child tax credit.

“In our Affordable Arizona plan, in addition to tax breaks on everyday items that many people purchase and that hit working families more than others – like over-the-counter medication, school supplies, diapers, and other baby products, feminine hygiene products – we have also proposed three additional things. One is the expansion of childcare assistance so that more people can get back to work. We also propose a state child tax credit that you just mentioned. So, we are basically stepping in to provide that tax credit at the state level since the federal tax credit ended earlier this year. Finally, there is a tax credit for folks who pursue some sort of career or technical education. The purpose there is to get folks back to work and get them to work in high paying, in-demand jobs.”

Did you want to touch on anything on sustainability or green energy alternative energy programs?

“If I had to list a fourth issue that I’m hearing from Arizonans, it’s really the simultaneous threats that we’re facing from prolonged drought, climate change, and the threats to our natural resources from all these things. Our Resilient Arizona plan touches on all of these and we have a comprehensive plan to address the water shortages, protect our natural resources, and invest in a 21st-century clean energy economy.”

• Please describe your campaign strategy to reach voters in all of Arizona’s 15 counties.

“I have spent the last 14 months traveling the state meeting Arizonans in their own communities. Our strategy is simple: to talk to as many Arizonans as possible and listen to what they want from their next governor. I think that Arizonans deserve to know where their leaders stand on the most important issues that they face every day like the things we’ve already talked about – inflation, water security, the future of reproductive health, and fixing our public schools.

We kicked off the general election with our Southern Arizona Solutions Can’t-Wait Tour. We met voters and local leaders in Yuma, Nogales, and Tucson, discussing these issues and many other things. That’s obviously just the start. We will continue to travel across the state to make sure Arizonans know that they have a governor who is going to fight for them and find real solutions to our challenges.”

 

 

 

• Please describe how you would convince Independents and Disaffected Republicans to vote for you.

“My message now is the same as it’s been throughout this race: that we’re talking about improving our public schools, protecting reproductive healthcare, addressing our water crisis, and lowering costs.

For Arizonans, these aren’t Democratic issues or Republican issues – they’re Arizona issues. And like I said, this race isn’t about Democrats versus Republicans. It’s really a choice between sanity and chaos and electing a leader who’s going to govern with vision and strength.

Kari Lake is not offering any real solutions at all. All she talks about is an election that happened two years ago. Her ideas like banning abortion without any exceptions, putting cameras in children’s classrooms to spy on them, and allowing people to own rocket launchers are so far out of touch from everyday Arizonans that they’re laughable, but also, when you think about it, is incredibly dangerous.

I’m running because I want to tackle our state’s toughest challenges, stop passing the buck, and get the job done for Arizonans. I think that’s a message that appeals across the board.”

• Is there anything not covered in the first four questions that you would like readers to know about you or your candidacy? Please explain.

“I would like to share a little bit about where I come from and what led me to run for Governor.

I was born and raised right here in Arizona. I love our state. Growing up, my parents and my church really taught me the value of service to my community and I knew early on that I wanted to help other people. This led me to become a social worker and in that career, I helped run one of the largest domestic violence shelters in the country. Day in and day out, I was working with the most vulnerable people in Arizona and I saw firsthand the consequences of becoming homeless because rents are skyrocketing or not getting healthcare because it’s too expensive or too inaccessible, or not finishing high school because, you know, a student didn’t have a support system. I loved making a difference in the lives of people that I was working with, but I really wanted to fix these bigger problems that were causing people to end up here in the first place. I didn’t see elected officials doing anything about it, and that’s why I ran for office, first in the legislature, and then as Secretary of State.

Today, I’m running for governor to continue to deliver accountability, transparency, and results for Arizonans – to make government work for them. Certainly, this is going to be a tough race, and I’m going to need everyone’s help to make sure that sanity prevails. Folks can go to Katiehobbs.org to get involved.”

Please click on the below social media sites to find out more about Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and her campaign for Arizona Governor.