Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who has faced a barrage of criticism from Republicans about the 2020 election, is running for governor, she announced in a video Wednesday morning.
“In 2020 against all odds, in the middle of a pandemic, we proved that democracy works,” she said in the video posted on Twitter. “It’s been my job and life’s work to make government work for the people of Arizona. But the job’s not done. Arizona needs to work for all. That’s why I’m running.”
Hobbs, a Democrat and former state legislator, was elected to head the secretary of state’s office in 2018 by a narrow margin and is the first Democrat to hold the position since 1995, according to Ballotpedia.
As the state’s top election official, Hobbs was a frequent target of stolen election conspiracy theories and was harassed and threatened for her work and defense of the state's system. President Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by approximately 10,000 votes and numerous state and county reviews and audits have revealed that the election system was secure and produced accurate results.
But Arizona Republicans have continued to stoke former President Donald Trump's stolen election lie by pursuing a controversial and conspiracy filled audit of 2020 ballots.
Hobbs has positioned herself as a key defender of the state’s election system and opponent of the audit and her announcement video suggests she will seek to capitalize on that fight in her bid.
"The other side isn't offering policies to make our lives better, they're offering conspiracies that only make our lives worse," she says over news clips about the audit.
