If Katie Hobbs is thinking about what to do after her time as Governor is up, one option would be to test her skills in the Hide and Seek World Championships. After all, she proved during the 2022 gubernatorial election campaign that it’s what she’s best at.
After dodging any request to debate her opponent Kari Lake during her campaign, Hobbs also ducked reporters who dared to question her about it. She even hid in a restaurant bathroom after another reporter asked her why she didn’t like discussing politics.
All this hiding should have resulted in a simple decision. According to long-standing Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC) rules, an opponent (in this case Kari Lake) should have been provided with airtime when a candidate (in this case Katie Hobbs) refused to debate. And the AZCCEC planned to do just that. But hours before Kari Lake’s interview was scheduled to take place, the AZCCEC learned that Arizona PBS went behind their back to schedule an exclusive interview with Katie Hobbs—moving them to postpone Lake’s interview.
If you think all this reeks of collusion, you’re right. And now, a public records request has made it clear. Katie Hobbs wasn’t playing hide and seek alone. She was purposefully aided by leadership at Arizona State University (ASU) and at PBS.
Earlier this month, a series of emails came to light revealing that ASU leaders including President Michael Crow, former Arizona Republic publisher Mi-Ai Parrish, and Arizona PBS leaders allegedly favored Hobbs over Lake during the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election. Crow even went as far to say in one of his emails that jettisoning the debate rules to help Katie Hobbs was necessary because of “the fact that it is our venue and brand. We need structure…and format…….and….people who believe in elections as participants.”
How do you like that? The President of ASU thinks that he has the right to abuse his authority if it means stopping his political opponents. Hubris and arrogance appear to be endless at our ivory institutions.
All this represents a perfect storm of how our major educational institutions and the media are blinded by ideology, self-righteousness, and a sense of moral superiority. In their arrogance, they are willing to cross lines and break the very laws they accuse their opponents of violating. It’s outrageous. And we don’t have to stand for it.
Thankfully, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen has called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate Arizona PBS for its role in this collusion and its blatant viewpoint discrimination and have their FCC license revoked. And just last week, we here at the Arizona Free Enterprise Club filed a Hatch Act complaint against ASU for using public resources to influence the 2022 gubernatorial election.
This was a blatant misuse of taxpayer-funded university resources to tilt the scales of a gubernatorial election. And Arizona law is clear that universities must remain impartial and neutral in election-related activities.
That’s why we’re calling on Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell to launch a full investigation and pursue all appropriate remedies, including civil penalties. ASU leaders can certainly enjoy their First Amendment right to express their opinions in their personal capacities during their free time. But they cannot be allowed to get away with using university resources—including compensated personnel time, university email systems, and other university assets—to subsidize their favored political candidates.
It’s time to ensure that the people of Arizona won’t be subjected to any more collusion from universities and the media in future elections. And that begins with accountability for both ASU and PBS.
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