21 April 6thth–April 12th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | wouldn’t have much of a government to be coming back to next year.” In addition to the vetoes, Hobbs has signed executive orders to squash race and gender discrimination in hiring for state agencies. She has visited the border three times to discuss security strategy, and even met with Republicans — more times than her GOP predecessors met with Democrats in their first 100 days. Unforced Errors Hobbs’ record isn’t spotless. She has come under fire for a number of unforced errors during her first 100 days. Ahead of her inaugural ceremony and inaugural ball in January, Hobbs asked donors to cough up $250,000 each to cover “costs associated with the swearing-in ceremony,” but ended up quietly using prison labor to set up the events. Her pick for director of the Department of Child Safety, Matthew Stewart, and her press secretary, Josselyn Berry, were both forced to resign. Her choice to lead the state health department, Theresa Cullen, was rejected by a Senate committee vetting her cabinet nominees for being too “extreme” despite nearly 30 years in public service and a stint as director of Pima County’s Health Department. “I don’t think that the first 100 days have been 100 days that left a very good impression,” said Scarpinato, the Republican strategist. “First impressions really do matter in this business.” But in her interview with New Times, Hobbs called Cullen’s rejection “absolutely unprecedented,” saying the Senate’s Director Nominations Committee had devolved into “a stage for political theater where these folks have decided to engage in personal attacks rather than truly vetting the qualifications of the nominee.” “It is really unfortunate that so many of our qualified nominees have been caught up in this political gamesmanship,” the governor added. Fighting Off The Lies In her first 100 days as governor, Hobbs has faced relentless pressure from Republicans to resign from her position after a “stolen election,” or “selection,” that saw Hobbs affirm her own win as Secretary of State. Beyond that, she has also valiantly fought against even more far-fledged and unsub- stantiated conspiracy theories linking her to illicit activities such as cartel bribes, money laundering, and even murder. During a Senate hearing in February, a Scottsdale insurance agent testified — without evidence — that Hobbs was in the pockets of the Sinaloa Cartel. “If the legislature wasn’t trying to play games and attack other Arizonans, we wouldn’t be having this part of the conver- sation,” Hobbs said. These accusations aren’t just political theater — they are dangerous calls to action. In July 2022, the FBI arrested a Massachusetts man who threatened to kill Hobbs with a bomb amid false claims that she unlawfully certified Joe Biden’s victory in Arizona in 2020. But Hobbs isn’t backing down. “The election denialism, the conspiracy theories… these are obviously just ridicu- lous lies, and they continue to get more outrageous every time a conspiracy theory is debunked,” Hobbs said. “It’s very daunting, to put it honestly, to be in politics because of this type of rhetoric. These viewpoints don’t represent the majority. If they did, I wouldn’t be sitting here as governor.” The Next 100 Days In her next 100 days in office, Hobbs plans to finalize a state budget and compromise with Republicans on other key issues. She said that her first 100 days “laid the groundwork” for a prolific four-year term. “I can promise that, in the next 100 days, we will make progress on our bipar- tisan budget and all the things we talked about,” Hobbs said. “We will move the needle on issues that are actually impor- tant to Arizonans.” Gage Skidmore / Creative Commons Republican political consultant Daniel Scarpinato has been critical of Hobbs.
