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Hobbs has gained visibility with her attacks on Republican efforts to question the 2020 presidential election results. She said her office, which is in charge of elections statewide, did its job.

“They refused to do theirs,� she said in a video announcing her campaign. “And there’s a lot more work to be done.�

In an interview with Capitol Media Services, Hobbs made it clear she intends to use that dispute — the continued arguments over whether Donald Trump lost ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, and over the Senate-ordered audit of Maricopa County’s votes — to make her case for election in the 2022 gubernatorial race.

“We are currently being led by a group of conspiracy theorists who are out of touch with everyday ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ns,â€� she said.

Hobbs, 51, hopes to win the votes of other ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ns who believe the elections, which fall under purview of the Secretary of State’s Office, were handled quite well.

‘Battle tested’

“I am a battle-tested statewide leader. In 2020, my office oversaw three of the most successful elections in recent history,� Hobbs said, meaning the presidential preference primary, the regular primary, and general elections for statewide, legislative and local offices.

She said they were conducted in the face of “unprecedented challenges.�

“We were in the middle of a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic,� Hobbs said.

Add to that, she said, misinformation about the accuracy of elections that came out of the Trump White House.

“We made sure that ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ns didn’t have to choose between their freedom to vote and their health and safety,â€� Hobbs said. “And that’s what I’ll bring to the governor’s office.â€�

She acknowledged that the duties of governor involve a wider scope of issues than those of secretary of state. But Hobbs said she dealt with those during her eight years in the Legislature, including a stint as minority leader, and that she has shown she can work in a bipartisan fashion.

Among her priorities as a legislator was pushing for the state to do something about its backlog of untested rape kits. The number was 3,000 when she first raised the issue in 2012. By 2016, when it topped 6,000, she got Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to agree to legislation.

She also was instrumental in approval of the bipartisan Opioid Epidemic Act that put limits on the use and prescription of the addictive drug and provided money for treatment.

‘Power rankings’

Hobbs could be a formidable candidate. OH Predictive Insights reported last week that Hobbs topped the polling firm’s “power rankings� among all voters, which include name ID as well as net popularity.

Among Democratic voters she placed third, behind Sen. Mark Kelly, who is seeking a six-year term in the 2022 election, and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.

But Hobbs was in the top slot among independents, who play a crucial role in choosing statewide candidates.

Independents make up 32.2% of registered voters — more than Democrats and close to the 34.9% who identify as Republicans. That gives them the power to alter elections in what was traditionally a Republican-dominated state.

Incumbent Ducey took the top slot among Republicans in the OH Predictive Insights report. But he is constitutionally precluded from seeking a third term and may be angling for some federal post.

Behind him is Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who is weighing a bid against Kelly for the Senate, followed by state GOP Chair Kelli Ward.

Death threats

Hobbs has gained not just statewide but also national attention since the 2020 election.

She has been a key voice questioning the wisdom of the audit ordered by Senate President Karen Fann as well as how it is being conducted.

Hobbs filed suit and got a judge to order firms hired by the Senate to follow certain procedures when dealing with the 2.1 million Maricopa County ballots and the equipment they subpoenaed.

More recently, she wrote to the county’s supervisors informing them that the activities of those auditors likely has compromised the machines, meaning they cannot be used in the 2022 election.

That created a political backlash. There were protesters at her house and death threats, all of which led Ducey to extend protection for Hobbs from the Department of Public Safety.

GOP lawmakers are pushing legislation to strip Hobbs of not only her ability to hire outside counsel but also of any role in defending the state against future lawsuits challenging state election laws.

They also are moving to remove her control over the State Capitol Museum, a move that some say is retaliation for her hanging a “gay pride� flag on the old Capitol building in 2019.

Yet Hobbs has GOP allies of a sort, in the four Republicans on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors who have found common cause with her in opposing the Senate audit.

Others in race

Hobbs joins former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez in the hunt for the Democratic nomination. Congressman Greg Stanton also may make a bid.

So far there are three major GOP contenders: State Treasurer Kimberly Yee, member of the Board of Regents Karrin Taylor Robson, and former Phoenix Fox-TV affiliate anchor Kari Lake. Other Republicans may be waiting in the wings.

Both Hobbs and Lopez agreed to interviews; all of the Republicans to date have limited their communications to prepared videos.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s last Democratic governor was Janet Napolitano, elected in 2002 and 2006. She quit in early 2009 to take a slot in the Obama administration.

Hobbs, elected secretary of state in 2018, inherited an agency that some, including Brnovich, found to be not properly functioning under her Republican predecessor, Michele Reagan.

The problems most notably included a 2016 special election — the first one run by Reagan — where she failed to comply with state laws requiring voters to get pamphlets explaining the issues before they received their early ballots. Brnovich said an investigation revealed Reagan knew about the problem for weeks before she finally went public. Reagan lost the 2018 GOP primary to Steve Gaynor who, in turn, narrowly lost to Hobbs in the general election.