Hobbs Refuses to Share Stage with Lake at Chamber of Commerce Forum

At a Wednesday night Chamber of Commerce event, the Democrat Party’s nominee for governor of Arizona refused to take the stage with Republican nominee Kari Lake.

“I was supposed to be up on stage with [Katie Hobbs] at this Arizona Chamber of Commerce forum. Instead, I’m watching from the Audience because she’s a coward. I’ll be speaking next, stay tuned!” Lake said on Twitter during the event.

Lake has been trying to engage Hobbs in a debate since winning the Republican nomination in early August.

“We’ve got an empty chair up here. And every time you look at that empty chair, just think we should be filling that with my opponent, but I digress,” Lake said later, when it was her turn to speak.

Lake’s official campaign Twitter account also chastised Hobbs for failing to appear on stage with her Republican opponent.

“Katie Hobbs should be on stage with these two,” the campaign said. “Remember that when you go to cast your ballot.”

Hobbs later left the event without taking questions from the media, which was not lost on Lake’s campaign.

Pictured Left: [Katie Hobbs] *literally* turns her back on Arizona, ghosts [the Arizona Chamber of Commerce] event. Pictured Right: [Kari Lake] embraces the crowd, takes questions from the Media,” Lake said.

During the forum, Lake also alluded to the fact that Hobbs is attempting to duck a true debate by setting up a town hall via the Arizona Citizens for Clean Elections Commission.

Lake sent a letter to the commission asking it to reject Hobbs’s proposal.

“The townhall [sic] format that Katie Hobbs proposed last week is not a debate, but a safe space from any serious criticism or scrutiny of her record,” Lake said in the letter. “Perhaps Katie Hobbs is worried that Kari Lake will bring up her record of convictions for racial and sexual discrimination on live television. She should be, but facing criticism and taking responsibility for your record in front of the voters is one of the most basic qualifications of leadership. Hobbs is failing at it spectacularly.”

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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Katie Hobbs” by Kari Lake. 

 

 

 

 

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