Arizona’s secretary of state is running for governor.
Her opponent thinks she should recuse herself from the race to ensure a fair and free election occurs in the state.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake said she thinks that Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs should not be overseeing the 2022 Arizona governor’s race results.
“We’ve seen this time and time again,” Lake said in a news conference at the Mexican border. “She’s running her office with a great incompetency and maybe maladministration. The ethical thing would be for her to recuse herself. I don’t think she’s going to do it. And that’s a problem.”
Lake also noted that 6,000 Arizona voters erroneously received mail-in ballots that only featured federal races as she was trying to paint Hobbs as incompetent.
Hobbs, who has faced calls to recuse herself and to resign from her post as secretary of state to ensure a fair and free election, refuses to do it.
Hobbs told the media over the weekend that she will do what she was elected to do in 2018.
“I took an oath of office to do the job that voters elected me to do,” Hobbs told NBC News. “That oath says I’ll uphold the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution laws of the state of Arizona.”
Former Georgia Secretary of State Gov. Brian Kemp faced similar calls to recuse himself in his run against Stacey Abrams in their 2018 runs for governor. Kemp didn’t recuse himself and resigned shortly after declaring victory over Abrams, who doubted the veracity of the election.
Hobbs also drew anger from some Republicans following the 2020 presidential election by certifying those results. President Joe Biden won Arizona in 2020, but some falsely believed that Donald Trump won it.
This year’s Arizona governor’s race is expected to be close. An OH Predictive Insights poll conducted last week showed Lake has a two-point lead over Hobbs: 49% to 47%.
Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
