Long time readers may remember my complaints of 4+ years ago that then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R-GA) neither recused himself from management of the 2018 election in Georgia, nor did he resign from his position. Why? Because he was running for the Governor’s seat that year, and thus it was a reasonable argument that Kemp had a conflict of interest when it came to overseeing his own election.
So why bring this up? Just moments ago, I discovered the same situation arose in the 2022 cycle, and I missed it. It involves Democrat, candidate for the Arizona governorship, and current Secretary of State for Arizona Katie Hobbs, who gained a narrow, narrow victory over former newscaster and MAGA Republican candidate Kari Lake. The margin is less than 1 full point, and it took quite a long time to call the race.
Sigh. It appears politics in Arizona is a messy business. Indeed, Wikipedia notes this:
Hobbs faced the Republican nominee, former KSAZ-TV news anchor Kari Lake, in the general election. She limited access to reporters, sometimes going out of her way to avoid them, and held small-scale campaign events. She declined to debate Lake, saying she wanted to deny Lake the opportunity to spread election denialism. Hobbs narrowly defeated Lake with 50.3% of the vote. After the election, Lake refused to concede, and is assembling a legal team to contest the election results.
Refusal to debate leaves voters less informed. While it’s true a website and other resources can inform the persistent voter as to candidate positions, a debate gives the audience an up-front display of performance in the face of confrontation, and may even demonstrate inconsistency, ignorance, or ideological kant infesting the positions of the candidate.
By refusing to recuse or resign for this election, Hobbs has given Lake a leg to stand on, although I don’t know that there was any more than that. Still, the appearance, as well as her behavior, stinks.
