Democratic candidate for governor Katie Hobbs will not debate Republican candidate Kari Lake

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Democratic candidate for governor Katie Hobbs announced on Sunday that she will not take part in the only scheduled televised debate with her Republican opponent Kari Lake.

“Debating a conspiracy theorist like Kari Lake – whose entire campaign platform is to cause enormous chaos and make Arizona the subject of national ridicule – would only lead to constant interruptions, pointless distractions, and childish name-calling,” Nicole DeMont, the campaign manager for Hobbs said in a statement. “Arizonans deserve so much better than Kari Lake, and that’s why we’re confident Katie Hobbs will be elected our next governor.”

Hobbs’ move ends a 20-year tradition where gubernatorial candidates will participate in a televised debate hosted by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission. While the debate over the debate is over, it won’t stop Lake and her supporters from making this a political issue. The Republican Governor’s Association, which is spending millions of dollars slamming Hobbs on television, hammered her in a written statement released on Monday morning.

“Bawk, bawk, bawk...,” RGA spokesman Will Reinert said in a statement, “It’s official. Katie Hobbs chickened out of the Arizona gubernatorial debate with Kari Lake. Katie Hobbs is the worst Democrat gubernatorial candidate in the country, and her decision to duck the debate proves it.”

Hobbs had proposed holding a town-hall style event where each candidate would take questions from a moderator for 30 minutes but would not debate each other. Since Hobbs has officially rejected the debate format, Lake will have 30 minutes to herself on television with a moderator on Oct. 12.

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