- Former Mesa mayor says Arizona governor picked him as running mate to "lower the temperature."
- GOP nominee Rep. Andy Biggs accused Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs of "spewing misinformation."
- Biggs and ex-Republican John Giles both have strong connections to the East Valley area of Arizona.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, shook up the Copper State gubernatorial contest on Tuesday with her selection of former Mesa mayor John Giles, a disaffected ex-Republican, to be her candidate for lieutenant governor.
The pick pits two opposing brands of East Valley politics against each other.
The “Never Trump” mentality of Giles, who made compromise his hallmark in Mesa, contrasts with the uncompromising conservatism of GOP nominee Rep. Andy Biggs, who has been a staunch supporter of the president while representing Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek in Congress.
Hobbs described the decision as a way to put Arizonans above politics. But to some it looks more like a desperate move to appeal to a key political constituency: members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in the area where Biggs and Giles are best known to voters.
In interviews with the Deseret News, Giles explained why he abandoned the GOP and endorsed Hobbs’ agenda, while Biggs countered claims that he is extreme and criticized his opponents for refusing to participate in debates with himself and his running mate, former state Sen. Sine Kerr.
Giles and Biggs — both Latter-day Saints and graduates of Brigham Young University — made it clear that the choice at the top of the ticket could not be more different, with Hobbs-Giles cementing Arizona’s swing-state status, and Biggs-Kerr returning Arizona to its red roots.
The pitch of ‘less tribal’ politics
Giles believes divisiveness is the biggest obstacle to problem-solving. This makes him a natural fit for the Hobbs administration, he said, as they work to “lower the political temperature” in Arizona which has been the center of partisan brawls over elections and immigration.
“It’s bad politics to continue pursuing this polarizing, toxic political environment,” Giles said. “It is good politics to reject that. And I think voters will respond well to that.”
Over the past decade, as Arizona morphed into a purple battleground, Giles embarked on what he calls “a lonely crusade to try and save the soul of the Republican Party.” For him, this looked like doing all he could to reject Donald Trump, helping to launch “Republicans for Harris” in 2024.
Earlier this year he decided to reject the GOP label for good, switching his voter status to “independent.” The middle is “a great place to govern from,” he said. But on policy, he has picked a side. Since endorsing Hobbs in 2022, he has never had a policy disagreement with the governor, he said.
Giles wants to “reassure” Democrats he is not there to water down Hobbs’ platform. He prefers to think his position is meant to send a “wake-up call” to the nation that voters want “less tribal” politics. The wager, he said, is that that will be enough to tip undecided Arizonans their way.
But Hobbs has declined to face her Republican opponent in a debate, repeating the strategy she employed in her 2022 race against Kari Lake.
Giles called this a “great decision.” Voters are better served by outreach other than the “circus environment of a debate,” he said. Instead of defending Hobbs’ record against Kerr and Biggs, who Giles accused of “political extremism,” they will answer voter questions ”face to face."
‘He owns all that’
Hobbs and Giles’ refusal to debate is “self-disqualifying,” according to Biggs. It shows they are not interested in showing accountability to voters for Hobbs’ first term in office, Biggs said, which was distinguished by a record number of vetoes of Republican-passed legislation.
Hobbs has tried to “distract” from her actions by using personal attacks, Biggs said. Far from an effort to “lower the temperature,” Biggs said he thinks Hobbs’ decision to put Giles on the ticket is a “cynical attempt to get some East Valley voters to vote for her that otherwise wouldn’t.”
“If she was trying to lower the temperature, she wouldn’t be spewing the misinformation about me personally that she’s been spewing,” Biggs said.
Hobbs has repeatedly put a spotlight on Biggs’ background as a partisan bulldog in Congress where he helped to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, led attempts to block government spending packages and opposed the certification of Arizona’s 2020 electoral votes.
Biggs alleged Hobbs has been “deceiving Arizonans” on the top issue of cost of living. Her ads tout falling utility rates and housing prices. However, the median home sales price has actually increased since it spiked in 2022, and Arizona regulators are weighing a 14% utility rate increase.
By saying he agrees with Hobbs’ entire agenda, Giles confirmed “he certainly left the Republican Party a long time ago,” Biggs said, pointing to Hobbs’ veto of the Arizona Border Invasion Act, election integrity bills and bills restricting male students from entering female spaces.
“He owns all of that,” Biggs said of Giles. “He’s not really a moderate ... he’s finally found the party he’s actually been a part of for the last 10 years.”
Voters react to Giles pick
Kelli Anderson — a home-school mom of three, an Army veteran married to a Marine Corps veteran and a board member of the Queen Creek school district — has voted for Biggs multiple times and is excited to support what she sees as his “principles-driven” approach for governor.
Whereas Biggs, as the former House Freedom Caucus chair, champions small government constitutionalism, Anderson knows Giles for his transgender nondiscrimination ordinance for public restrooms, which contributed to the successful recall of fellow city council member Julie Spilsbury last year.
“I actually have yet to see anything he’s done that would align with my values as a conservative or as a Republican,” Anderson told the Deseret News.
A willingness to depart from his prior party on issues of immigration, elections and LGBTQ issues made Giles the “favorite Republican mayor” of the Arizona Democratic Party, said DJ Quinlan, a Democratic consultant who served as executive director of the party from 2012 to 2015.
As mayor, Giles went “all in” on Quinlan’s ballot initiative to provide in-state tuition for immigrants, he said. Quinlan believes Giles’ desire to “bring people together” reflects how Hobbs approaches her role and why she picked him “as an olive branch to a lot of different types of voters.”
“There’s a growing coalition of Mormons who are not comfortable with ... just meanness in our politics,” Quinlan told the Deseret News.
As of June, Hobbs and Biggs were neck-and-neck in money to spend on delivering their messages. Biggs has focused on addressing affordability by reducing taxes and regulation. Hobbs has defended her record of signing legislation to manage drought and fund education.