Journalists’ Roundtable: Katie Hobbs, GOP and Kari Lake

It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for another edition of Journalists’ Roundtable. To discuss the week’s top stories, we were joined by Mark Brodie with KJZZ, Bob Christie with Capitol Media Services and Howie Fischer with Capitol Media Services.

This week’s Journalists’ Roundtable covered:

• Hobbs pulling agency head nominees
• GOP response to Hobbs pulling nominees
• Lake to announce for U.S. Senate
• Lake backup plan on Ballot Review Case

Hobbs pulls director nominees

Mark Brodie: “She withdrew thirteen nominees from various agencies across state government. She basically appointed them as deputy executive directors which do not need Senate confirmation, at least according to the Governor. This is something Democrats have been saying you should have been doing this already, especially because of the process that has been ongoing for the last several months.”

Bob Christie: “She finally had enough. She has to find a way to get around them because they’re obviously going to block it. In her letter to the Senate President, she said, ‘At this pace, I will be in my second term before all my nominees get hearings.”

Howie Fischer: “It was elegant the way she did it. Only directors can appoint agency deputy directors. But, if this goes to court, which I’m sure it will, the courts will say, ‘Show me where this is illegal.”

Lake to announce for U.S. Senate

Howie Fischer: “Is she running as the governor in waiting? Arizona has a resign to run law. You cannot run for another office except during the last year of your term. Last year, the governor’s term, ‘Governor Lake,’ is 2026. If she is announcing for the Senate, and she really is the governor, you can’t. You’ve got to give up the governor’s seat.”

Bob Christie: “I do believe what she will say is ‘Well, when I win in courts then I will take my governorship and if I lose then you have me as senator.’ Here’s what’s intriguing about this: She’s really been positioning herself to be Donald Trump’s running mate, right? She’s been going to all these events, she has been talking for him, she has the ability to grab the MAGA crowd really well, not just in Arizona but across the country.”

Mark Brodie: “She in theory could still run for Senate, I don’t know maybe that would be part of her campaign if she were to say, ‘You know what, Mr. President, I’m sorry, I can’t do this, I can’t be your running mate, I’m running to be U.S. Senator.’ I don’t know, maybe that helps her campaign.”