By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Arizonans won't get to see Katie Hobbs and Andy Biggs debate each other ahead of the November general election.
"Face-to-face engagement with Arizonans is more effective than a stage designed for short soundbites and political theater,'' Nicole DeMont, the governor's campaign manager, announced late Thursday. Instead, DeMont said that Hobbs will instead focus on traveling around the state to listen to what people want.
Some of what Hobbs has called her Arizona First Tour, however, have been events arranged ahead of time, with a list of those who are invited to give their views to the governor. And that is far different than a debate where each candidate is asked questions by a moderator, and each then can immediately respond to what the other has stated.
But Hobbs campaign press aide Michael Beyer said that there have been multiple events that have been open to the public.
And her campaign listed a series of events, like meeting with owners of restaurants about how tariffs are affecting local businesses, touring the Curry Seed & Chili Co. with farmer Ed Curry to discuss water security and agriculture, and celebrating National Drive-Thru Day at a Burger King where she worked in high school -- an event that produced a picture of Hobbs standing outside under the sign reading "Home of the Whopper.''
She also opened campaign offices around the state for Copper State Victory, which is promoting her reelection as well as that of other Democratic candidates.
Hobbs' decision was not exactly a surprise.
The last time she agreed to a debate was in October 2018 when, as a state senator and never having run for statewide office, she ran against Republican Steve Gaynor.
But when Hobbs decided she wanted to be governor, she refused to debate former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez, her foe in the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Nor would she face off against Republican Kari Lake in the general election.
Hobbs has been running ahead in polls, though none has been taken since Biggs won the four-way GOP primary. But the incumbent has yet to secure the support of a majority of those questioned. And a third of registered voters are not affiliated with either major party.
That point was not lost on Drew Sexton, an adviser to the Biggs campaign.
"The independent and persuadable voters up for grabs in Arizona deserve to hear from statewide candidates in a traditional debate setting,'' he said. And Sexton said that was the case going back to 1954, unbroken until the 2022 election.
But Biggs himself did not participate in debates in 2022 and 2024 when he was running for reelection for Congress.
Sexton said there's no comparison.
"There's a difference between congressional and statewide debates in terms of the ability to reach out and actually connect with voters,'' he said.
What also is true is that Biggs' congressional district is heavily Republican and he was considered a shoo-in for reelection.
Sexton did say that Biggs will participate in the debate being organized for Oct. 6 by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.
Less clear, however, is who -- if anyone -- he will be debating.
There actually are two other candidates who won their primaries: Teri Ann Hourihan for the No Labels Party, and Risa Lombardo for the Green Party.
But Tom Collins, the executive director of the commission, said no decision has been made yet whether the minor parties will be invited to participate.
The decision by Hobbs to avoid what DeMont called "short soundbites and political theater'' did not stop DeMont from creating some of that in her statement.
"Arizonans deserve so much better than Andy Biggs, a Washington insider who has refused to participate in past debates and forums and refuses to answer for his records of raising costs and siding with a corrupt pedophile cult,'' DeMont said.
That latter reference is to the fact that Biggs in 2013 used his position as Senate president to quash a House-passed bill that would have forced the dissolution of the police department in the polygamous community of Colorado City. Backers of the legislation said there was evidence that the police department conspired with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to hide underage marriages.
Biggs sidelined the bill after saying it was opposed by the Arizona Police Association. But that opposition was based on concerns by other small police departments they could be affected.
Sexton, for his part, cited the fact that Hobbs is being investigated by Attorney General Kris Mayes and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell about whether a decision to give a huge increase in payments to Sunshine Residential for housing foster children was linked to the fact that its owner contributed $400,000 to Hobbs and the Arizona Democratic Party.
And Sexton said that Hobbs was "publicly rejected'' in her bid to bring on Jimmy McCain, son of the former Republican U.S. senator, as lieutenant governor.
Beyer declined to comment on the process Hobbs is using to select a running mate.
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