Katie Hobbs is the incumbent Democratic governor of Arizona seeking reelection in 2026. Before becoming governor, she served as Arizona secretary of state and previously held seats in the Arizona Legislature; the governor's office says she is the first social worker to serve as governor and that she studied at Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University. In the general election she faces Republican nominee Andy Biggs, and she has declined to debate her rivals while selecting former Mesa Mayor John Giles as her running mate for the new lieutenant governor post.
Hobbs supports expanding access to healthcare and reproductive care, protecting Medicaid and eligible patients, lowering prescription-drug costs, and making care more affordable. Her administration has also pursued Medicaid accountability and fraud prevention, opposed proposed federal Medicaid cuts, and partnered with Undue Medical Debt to erase more than $1 billion in Arizona medical debt for 670,963 residents.
Hobbs says she wants to lower costs for Arizona families through child tax credits and targeted sales-tax exemptions, expand child-care assistance and career and technical education, and support job and business growth to strengthen the state economy.
Hobbs supports reproductive freedom and says abortion and reproductive-care decisions should be made by patients and doctors rather than government. As governor, she has supported expanding access to abortion, family-planning and reproductive care; signed legislation repealing Arizona’s 1864 near-total abortion ban; and used executive and regulatory authority to protect access and oppose restrictive measures.
Hobbs says Arizona should secure the border while pressing for federal comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and DREAMers. Her administration says Arizona will not participate in or fund mass deportations or indiscriminate immigration roundups; under a 2026 budget agreement, 50 of 100 newly funded state troopers were designated for GIITEM and border-security work, while Hobbs’s office said their focus would be drug trafficking, human smuggling, and cartel operations rather than assisting federal immigration enforcement. In the 2026 campaign, Hobbs has continued to describe border security as a priority and says she is working with the Trump administration on it.
Hobbs has opposed expansions of firearm access. In June 2026, she vetoed SB 1068, which would have barred public colleges and universities from prohibiting concealed carry by permit holders and certain firearm storage in vehicles, and SB 1069, which would have removed suppressors from Arizona's prohibited-weapons list; her veto record also includes earlier campus-carry and firearm-regulation bills.
Hobbs supports modernizing Arizona’s water systems, protecting natural resources from climate impacts, and developing a clean-energy economy intended to lower costs and diversify the state’s energy infrastructure. Since the prior update, her administration announced a State-Tribal Clean Energy Partnership to provide technical assistance and resources for federally recognized Tribes, and signed an agreement with the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation focused on economic resilience and planning for communities affected by coal-facility closures.
Hobbs has addressed foreign-policy and national-security issues primarily through Arizona policy: she proposed the 2025 BAN Act to restrict China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and other foreign adversaries from owning land near military bases and critical infrastructure. However, the record should not say she signed the BAN Act: in June 2026 she vetoed SB1075 (foreign entities and land), HB2134 (critical infrastructure and foreign adversaries), and HB2170 (state contracts and foreign adversaries), while the official campaign site does not present a separate foreign-policy platform.
Hobbs supports expanding civil-rights protections and equal opportunity, including prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in housing, education, adoption, foster care, insurance, public accommodations, credit, and state employment; her campaign also proposed addressing systemic racism, racial disparities in criminal justice, voting access, and pay inequities. As governor, she vetoed 2026 bills that would have restricted gender-transition care and imposed related liability or prohibitions (SB1015, SB1094, and SB1095), according to her office’s legislative action update.
Hobbs has backed using AI and emerging technologies in Arizona state government to improve efficiency, service delivery, and workforce productivity. In March 2026, she launched the Arizona Capacity and Efficiency (ACE) Initiative, which includes standardized technology operations and an Arizona Innovation Hub intended to ensure technology investments produce measurable taxpayer returns; her administration had also created an AI Steering Committee to guide responsible state adoption and oversight.
Hobbs emphasizes working with local governments and community leaders on locally tailored solutions, especially affordable and workforce housing, streamlined permitting, low-interest financing, rural infrastructure, and homelessness assistance.
Hobbs supports accessible early childhood education and affordable child care, stronger supports and resources for students and educators, public-school investment and educator retention, expanded postsecondary and workforce pathways, and greater accountability and guardrails for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs).
Hobbs signed 2026 legislation moving Arizona’s primary election to late July and changing election administration, including signature-curing and election-observer access provisions.
Hobbs supports expanding access to healthcare and reproductive care, protecting Medicaid and eligible patients, lowering prescription-drug costs, and making care more affordable. Her administration has also pursued Medicaid accountability and fraud prevention, opposed proposed federal Medicaid cuts, and partnered with Undue Medical Debt to erase more than $1 billion in Arizona medical debt for 670,963 residents.
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Background
Career History
Governor2023 – Present
State of Arizona
Serves as Arizona’s governor.
Secretary of State2019 – 2023
State of Arizona
Served as Arizona secretary of state before becoming governor.
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives2011 – 2013
State of Arizona
Served in the Arizona House before moving to the state Senate.
State Senator2013 – 2019
State of Arizona
Served in the Arizona Senate and was Senate Minority Leader.
Education
Northern Arizona UniversityBachelor's degree in social work (1992)
Arizona State UniversityMaster of Social Work in social work (1995)
Top Donors
Raised approximately $17 million for the 2026 cycle, with $2.1 million in Q1 2026 alone, and $7.2 million cash on hand. Contributions are driven by Big Law executives, the tech industry, and entertainment figures; top industries include Lawyers/Law Firms, Health Professionals, Securities & Investment, and Public Sector Unions. Average itemized donation is $20, bolstered by max $5,500 contributions from donors such as Shonda Rhimes, David Zapolsky, and Danny Meyer.
Served in the Arizona House (2010-2012) and Senate (2012-2018) as a Democrat, rising to Senate Minority Leader; her legislative voting record aligned closely with the Democratic caucus. As Governor (2023-present), she has set state records with over 540 vetoes, including 151 in 2026 alone, blocking GOP bills on immigration, education, and elections. She signed a bipartisan budget with tax cuts and issued executive orders expanding voting access and launching the Reentry 2030 program.