Arizona Republicans walk out on Katie Hobbs’s first State of the State address

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Arizona Governor
Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, middle, speaks as she gives the state of the state address, flanked by Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale, left, and Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, right, at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) Ross D. Franklin/AP

Arizona Republicans walk out on Katie Hobbs’s first State of the State address

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Republican lawmakers in Arizona wasted no time letting new Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs know how they feel about her Monday as they walked out of Hobbs’s first State of the State address.

Several of the GOP lawmakers turned their backs on the new governor and walked out as she outlined her priorities, according to a report.

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Democratic lawmakers applauded Hobbs when she preached that she intended to increase public education funding and address Arizona’s water crisis.

However, when she began calling for abortion access, members of the Arizona Freedom Caucus publicly left the chamber, the report noted.

“As was foreseeable, Katie Hobbs utilized the time-honored State of the State Address to once again promote her radical, woke policy initiatives, rather than address the profoundly serious concerns that Arizonans have regarding the political and fiscal realities of daily life,” a statement from the Arizona Freedom Caucus read.

Hobbs does not have the people’s trust, according to the statement.

“On the heels of an election riddled with violations of Arizona law and that once again left Arizonans disenfranchised and lacking confidence in our state’s local governments,” it read.

“Katie Hobbs has now affirmed what many reasonably feared: this governor has no intention of using her office to correct existing corruption and restore the faith of Arizonans in their state and local governments.”

Arizona Freedom Caucus member Rep. Rachel Jones echoed the sentiment that there is a lack of trust.

“It took 5 seconds for Katie Hobbs to begin legislating from the 9th floor, so I will not listen to her rhetoric for even 5 seconds. There are too many questions left unanswered, litigation still moving through the courts, and many concerns about the border, not pronouns,” she tweeted after the address.

“This is why I immediately left the House Floor after the start of the State of the State. I promised to be the voice of the people, and I will never break that promise.”

Hobbs reacted to the walkout after the address and called the move puerile.

“I’m still optimistic that we can find common ground on a lot of the issues that we talked about,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that some members chose an immature stunt instead.”

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