Democrat Katie Hobbs took the oath of office and officially became the new governor of Arizona on Monday, January 2. The handover of power from newly departed GOP’er Doug Ducey marks another official setback for pro-Trump Republican Kari Lake, who lost this year’s Arizona governor’s race and then lost when challenging her defeat in court.
.@katiehobbs has taken the oath of office as Governor of Arizona.
— The AZ – abc15 – Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) January 2, 2023
The judge concluded she failed to prove either an intentional conspiracy to alter the results in the race for governor or that any such conspiracy actually affected the election’s outcome as alleged. Asked at trial, every witness — including those Lake’s defense called — denied any personal knowledge of a conspiracy to swing the election. Among the issues at trial were problems with ballot printers at Maricopa County polling sites on Election Day and allegations like an unsupported contention from a claimed third party — who wasn’t in court — that staff at a vendor the county uses in processing ballots were able to add their family’s votes to the count without going through the county. The same witness also discussed statements from another claimed third party that ballots weren’t counted before delivery to that vendor — but they weren’t supposed to be!
“Thank you, Arizona,” Hobbs said early on Monday. “As governor, I’ll work toward finding common ground and embracing the challenges that stand before us as opportunities to create real progress. Time to get to work.” It’s a pretty straightforward message — and yet, could you reasonably imagine someone like Lake saying the same and meaning it? Her political forebear Trump distinguished himself while in office by speaking dismissively of impacts from COVID-19 — a list that included mass death — in so-called “blue” states. Even a basic level of long-established political decency isn’t a given with these people.
Also on Monday, the Democrats who won this year’s races for Arizona’s posts of attorney general and Secretary of State took their oaths of office. In Arizona, the Secretary of State fulfills some responsibilities ordinarily delegated to an officeholder known as a lieutenant governor in other states. The race for attorney general recently saw a legally mandated recount conclude with the Democratic candidate’s win affirmed. The losing Republicans in both races also unsuccessfully challenged their defeats in court.
Thank you, Arizona. As governor, I'll work toward finding common ground and embracing the challenges that stand before us as opportunities to create real progress.
Time to get to work. pic.twitter.com/qlHRLqb4Vl
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) January 2, 2023
Image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons
