Katie Hobbs has made a name for herself in Arizona as a crusader against so-called “dark money.” As she campaigns to be the next Secretary of State, she has been persistent incriticizing the current occupier of that office, Michele Reagan, for “[making] it much easier for these dark money organizations to operate in Arizona with as little reporting requirements as possible.”
For years, Hobbs has emphasized the importance of “[stopping] the anonymous corporate cash hijacking our elections.”
That sure is a curious thing to say for someone whose campaign just received $2.2 million dollars in unaccounted-for financial support!
Does Texas have a constitutional right to defy Supreme Court on protecting its border?
The Arizona Democratic Party has decided to abandon the sinking ship that is David Garcia’s bid for governor. Instead of lighting its money on fire by supporting his hopeless campaign, the Arizona Democratic Party has given $2.2 million to Katie Hobbs in the form of political ad buys.
Where did all that money come from? There’s no way Hobbs would abandon her principles and accept that much dark money, right?
Let’s see what the Arizona Republic, which probed this puzzling situation, had to say: “The Arizona Democratic Party wouldn’t say who contributed the money to fund the roughly $2.2 million ad buy for Hobbs.” Even worse, the contribution was carefully timed – after October 1 – thus ensuring it won’t be disclosed until the late October – one week before the election!
What does it say that a Secretary of State candidate who rails against the influence of money in elections is relying on a massive, undisclosed contribution in her own election? Clearly Hobbs’ transparency shtick is nonsense. So too is her pledge of accountability if she can’t even remain accountable to her own principles. It strains the bounds of credulity to think she has no clue where the money came from, and yet here we are in mid-October with no clue who’s paying for her TV ads.
And just imagine what high dudgeon the media would be in if this was a Republican candidate and the suspected money was from….the Koch Network! But alas, the liberal media’s outrage is selective, and so Ms. Hobbs gets a largely-free pass from Arizona’s Fourth Estate.
Speaking of Hobbs’ multi-million-dollar ads, it is interesting that they purposefully place Governor Doug Ducey front and center. Apparently the Democratic Party has calculated that the only hope for winning a statewide election in Arizona is to tie themselves to successful Republicans. In one ad, over 25 percent of it consists solely of multiple shots of the governor. If you watch Hobbs’ ads closely, you will even see that Ducey is highlighted in a radiant light!
Katie Hobbs: campaigning against dark money, benefitting from a massive undisclosed contribution, and tying herself to Governor Ducey. Is that the secret recipe for Arizona Democrats? Voters will provide the answer on November 6 – but people tend to detest hypocrisy.
