Kathleen “Katie” Hobbs and Augustine “Auggie” Bartning are vying to represent district 24, which includes ASU’s Downtown campus, in the state Senate. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6. Learn more about Bartning’s platform.
As a democratic representative in a largely Republican Arizona House, Kathleen “Katie” Hobbs accomplished a surprising amount. Now she is taking that drive to campaign for District 24 state senator.
Freshman legislator Hobbs was the only Democrat to get a bill signed into law during both House sessions. Hobbs said it was difficult to get things done with so much opposition.
“A lot of what we would do was just yelling,” Hobbs said.
Democrat Rep. Lela Alston described Hobbs as hard working and willing to work across party lines.
The recent redistricting process placed Hobbs in the same district as Democrat Rep. Chad Campbell, who said Hobbs was “one of the best legislators” in the House. After evaluating the competition, Hobbs decided to run for Senate instead of the House.
As a state representative, Hobbs fought on children issues, such as Child Protective Services, and health care, including women reproductive rights, Campbell said.
“She really was the leader in terms of just fighting against the effort to minimize and restrict access to health care for women,” Campbell said.
For this upcoming election, Hobbs strongly supports Proposition 204, which would make the 1-cent temporary tax for education, public transportation, and human services voted for in 2010 a permanent tax according to ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy.
Hobbs is extremely frustrated with legislature’s lack of funding for education.
“I think that (Proposition) 204 is the tax payers saying, ‘Look, we want to be taxed to pay for these things, they’re important to us, and legislature, since you’re not going to listen to us, we’re going to do it anyway,’” Hobbs said.
Without Proposition 204, Hobbs believes education will face even more cuts than it has previously.
Hobbs is also worried about the seemingly unending rise in college costs and student debt.
“Our state constitution says that education should be as free or as nearly free as possible,” Hobbs said. “The last few years, we have just ignored that. I don’t know why students haven’t sued the legislature for increasing tuition for as much as it has been increased in the last few years.”
In Hobbs’ opinion, the legislature does not appreciate higher education.
“I think there is a level of disdain for college education at the legislature,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs believes legislators faced with short terms try to make a big impact during their time. To do so, they rush to reform education instead of proceeding thoughtfully, as Hobbs would prefer.
Though Hobbs had a tough time working in the House with its Republican majority, that is not the case with her largely Democratic district downtown.
According to Hobbs, downtown plays a vital role in the state’s economy.
“Downtown Phoenix isn’t Phoenix, but it’s the heart of Phoenix,” Hobbs said.
An Arizona native, Hobbs graduated from Northern Arizona University then earned a master’s degree in social work at ASU. She has previous experience working with women abuse shelters. Hobbs also teaches a social work class at a community college.
Contact the reporter at danika.worthington@asu.edu
