Katie Hobbs

She represented the 24th legislative district.

She originally did not want to run for state senate but did so due to redistricting.

Kathleen Marie Hobbs (born December 28, 1969) is an American politician and social worker serving since 2023 as the 24th governor of Arizona.

Hobbs is the first social worker to be elected governor of a U.S. state and is Arizona's fifth female governor.

She went to Catholic schools throughout her childhood and graduated from Seton Catholic High School in 1988.

Hobbs attended Northern Arizona University, where she received a bachelor's degree in social work in 1992.

Hobbs has been a social worker since 1992.

She specializes in domestic violence, mental health, and homelessness.

Hobbs was the chief compliance officer for Sojourner Center, one of the nation's largest domestic violence centers.

She is an adjunct faculty member of social work at Paradise Valley Community College and Arizona State University.

Hobbs is affiliated with the National Association of Social Workers professional organization.

Before seeking elected office, Hobbs participated in political leadership programs in multiple organizations, including Valley Leadership, Emerge Arizona, and the Center for Progressive Leadership.

She later attended Arizona State University, where she received a master's degree in social work in 1995.

She paid for college through scholarships and work-study programs.

She was a delegate for Hillary Clinton at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Hobbs served on the Phoenix Women's Commission and the Phoenix Human Services Commission.

Inspired to run for office by her involvement with Emerge Arizona, Hobbs was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2010 and to the Arizona Senate in 2012.

Hobbs was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2010.

Hobbs served one term in the House of Representatives and ran for state senate in 2012.

Hobbs was elected to the Arizona Senate in 2012 and reelected in 2014 and 2016.

Hobbs was the executive director of Emerge Arizona from 2013 to 2019.

She served as Senate minority leader from 2015 to 2019 and was elected secretary of state of Arizona in 2018.

Hobbs won the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Kari Lake.

Hobbs was born in Phoenix, Arizona.

She has a twin sister, Becky.

A first-generation Arizonan, Hobbs was raised in Tempe in a middle-class family that sometimes relied on food stamps.

She comes from a Catholic family and volunteered at her church as a child.

She represented the 15th legislative district alongside Lela Alston.

Hobbs credited her interest in politics to her involvement with Emerge Arizona and was inspired to run for office by the people she assisted as a social worker, believing they were not being heard by the government.

She advocates ending domestic violence.

Hobbs became minority leader in 2015 and served two terms in that position.

In 2015, during her first term as minority leader, Senate staffer Talonya Adams, a Black woman, complained to Hobbs about her concerns about racial and gender-based discrimination and was later fired in part by Hobbs.

In November 2021, Adams won a discrimination lawsuit related to her firing and was awarded a judgment of $2.75 million.

Hobbs did not run for another term in the State Senate, deciding to run for Secretary of state.

She was succeeded by Alston.

On March 8, 2017, Hobbs announced her candidacy for Arizona secretary of state.

In the 2018 election, she faced Republican nominee Steve Gaynor.

A member of the Democratic Party, she was secretary of state of Arizona from 2019 to 2023 and a member of the Arizona State Legislature from 2011 to 2019.

Born and raised in Arizona, Hobbs holds degrees in social work from Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University.

She specialized in domestic violence and worked for one of the nation's largest domestic violence centers.