Katie Hobbs to give inaugural address as Arizona governor

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs will define her imaginative and prescient for the following 4 years throughout her inaugural handle Thursday, ushering in an period of divided authorities and Democratic ascendance in a state lengthy dominated by Republicans.

Hobbs has been governor since Monday, when energy transferred underneath the state structure. She’ll repeat the oath of workplace in public Thursday on the conventional every-four-years inaugural on the state Capitol.

Hobbs rose to prominence because the secretary of state, staunchly defending the integrity of the 2020 election as former President Donald Trump and his allies tried to overturn the outcomes or falsely declare there was rampant fraud.

She narrowly received workplace in November after pitching “sanity over chaos,” contrasting herself favorably towards Republican Kari Lake, a former tv anchor who backed Trump’s election lies and drew international media consideration.

Hobbs assumes management of a state with a robust economic system and a stable monetary place, with a big price range surplus forecast for the following fiscal yr.

However headwinds are on the horizon. Phoenix has a number of the nation’s highest inflation ranges and housing prices have soared as speedy inhabitants progress has outpaced house building, belying the state’s fame for affordability. Moreover, the water provide is constrained by drought.

Hobbs was beforehand a state legislator who rose by means of the ranks to turn out to be the highest Democrat within the Senate. As governor, she’ll need to work with a Home and Senate narrowly managed by Republicans. The GOP caucuses will transfer to the suitable after a number of average Republicans in each the Home and Senate have been defeated in primaries or selected to not run for re-election, getting changed by a brand new era of lawmakers spoiling for a struggle not simply with Democrats however extra average members of the GOP.

The brand new Legislature convenes for the primary time subsequent Monday.

Outgoing Republican Gov. Doug Ducey left a letter for Hobbs saying governor “is the best job in politics and an immense duty. I do know you’ll serve the folks of Arizona properly.”

Hobbs’s election is the most recent victory for Democrats who steadily expanded their affect in Arizona since 2018, when Kyrsten Sinema was elected to the U.S. Senate. Sinema was then a Democrat however has since turn out to be unbiased after infuriating a lot of her occasion’s base.

Democrats now management the highest three state places of work — governor, secretary of state and legal professional common — for the primary time in many years, together with each U.S. Senate seats.

Lake has refused to concede and is continuous her authorized struggle difficult the election outcomes and claiming on social media that elections are rigged. A Maricopa County choose rejected Lake’s declare that the election outcomes have been marred by intentional misconduct by election officers within the state’s most populous county.

The primary two weeks in workplace are frenetic for a brand new governor simply studying the job. Hobbs will give a second main speech simply days after her inaugural handle when she delivers the state of the state handle on Monday, adopted by her first price range proposal subsequent Friday. In the meantime, she has targeted on staffing up her authorities, appointing a number of new state company chiefs in current weeks and asserting she is going to retain a number of officers initially employed by Ducey.

Hobbs signed her first government order hours after taking workplace aiming to remove discrimination for state staff and contractors. She has outlined priorities that embrace water, border safety, well being care entry, affordability, workforce improvement and training.