Katie Hobbs should recuse herself from certifying Arizona election results. That’s what Arizona Republicans AND Democrats are now saying.

The scenario is leading to growing calls for Hobbs to recuse herself from her official election-related duties, including from two former Arizona secretaries of state, a Democrat and a Republican, who emphasize the need to avoid even the appearance of a conflict, especially in an election that could be a powder keg.

“I think it would be wise if the secretary of state seconded responsibility for ministerial oversight to either the attorney general or the Maricopa County recorder,” Richard Mahoney, the Democrat, tells TIME, referring to the elections administrator in Arizona’s largest county. “She should recuse herself from the official acts that she would normally perform as secretary and let a deputy secretary or somebody else take care of those,” adds Ken Bennett, the Republican.

Granted, per Arizona law, it is the counties that actually monitor the election process and voting. They then submit the results to the Secretary of State. It is then the SOS’s role to review the information, determine it is complete and proper, and then certifying the results. 

Given the many MANY questions surrounding election integrity all across the country these days, it really does seem like a no-brainer that she’d step aside and appoint someone else to review and certify the results. 

Furthermore, her ability to maintain election integrity took quite a hit in late October concerning some significant errors in ballots mailed out to voters. 

Secretary of State’s Office is clarifying that about 6,000 records are being reviewed, with an estimated 1,000 voters affected.

Initial press release said less than a quarter of one percent of voters, which is about 10,000, which is where I got that number.

— Jen Fifield (@JenAFifield) October 19, 2022

We will be providing more updates as they become available. The voters impacted will be contacted by their county recorder's office. Voters can check their voter registration status at https://t.co/pGe99IEoH7. 2/

— Secretary Katie Hobbs (@SecretaryHobbs) October 19, 2022

In an update nearly a week later, Katie assures everyone that “only” about 1200 voters actually received the erroneous ballots. Still, that’s quite an error. And, where were the checks within the system BEFORE the ballots were printed wrong and mailed out? Which again, leads to credible questions about how Katie Hobbs is keeping the integrity of Arizona’s elections intact. 

Keep in mind, this is the same Katie Hobbs that flat out refuses to debate Kari Lake. This was her answer after CNN hosts Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, and Kaitlan Collins pressed her on the issue multiple times. 

“Wouldn’t it be easier to knock it down in front of everyone?” Lemon asked her. “You’re not stopping her from spreading whatever you believe that she is spreading by not debating her. She can go on television but you’re not confronting her on it. It seems like it would be an easy fix if you stood up on a debate stage and confronted her.”

Hobbs tried to make the issue more about time than what a substantive debate could produce. “We’re six days out from the election. Our campaign strategy is our campaign strategy,” she said. “Whether or not we debated in this race is not going to decide this election. We made a decision, didn’t want to be a part of of her spectacle, and she won’t answer these tough questions to real reporters.”

As we pointed out the other week, the Fetterman/Oz debate was highly illuminating. It showed that Fetterman has very real health issues, which has certainly made Pennsylvania’s political landscape much more interesting in recent days. Thus, it’s my opinion that Katie Hobbs won’t debate because Kari Lake would clean her clock on the debate stage. 

I’ve another theory as to why people are calling for Hobbs to recuse herself from election oversight. The burglary issue. Hobbs very quickly blamed Kari Lake for the break-in, and then started backpedaling. Now, there is new information concerning that burglary and the perp.

A federal immigration official tells 12News the suspect who allegedly broke into the campaign headquarters of Democrat gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs last week does not have legal status to be in the United States.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 36-year-old Daniel Mota Dos Reis is a citizen of Portugal who arrived in the United States as a registered student in 2018 and is now violating “the terms of his admission.”

So, the Lake campaign didn’t hire an illegal to break into Hobbs campaign headquarters? Whodathunkit??!! Given the media firestorm would’ve been dialed up to a billion if Lake HAD done so, since it was a Democrat, the media is staying pretty darned quiet about it right now. 

Remember when @katiehobbs accused me of orchestrating a Watergate-style break-in of her campaign office?

Well, it turns out it was a repeat-criminal here in our country illegally.

RETWEET THIS. People must know. pic.twitter.com/tf1k2UJRFZ

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 2, 2022

All this to say, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it’s growing unease about Katie Hobbs and her actions, or lack thereof, on the campaign trail that have led to calls for her to recuse herself from overseeing Arizona’s midterm election results. 

Feature Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, cropped and modified