Gov. Hobbs outlines second-term blueprint with John Giles

Fresh off securing a second term in the governor's office. Governor Katie Hobbs is laying out her blueprint for the next four years. So Katie Hobbs joins us now. Governor re-elected. Nice to see you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you. And your lieutenant governor, John Giles. Congratulations to you as well. Thank you very much. Yeah. Thank you both for coming in. We're looking forward to chatting with you. What was this like to win? And of course, now you have the House and the Senate. This is kind of a big deal for Arizona. This was a big election for Democrats. I think that for, I spent the last four years focusing on the issues that I know matter most to Arizonans, lowering costs, securing the border, protecting our water, protecting public education, and creating good paying jobs. Provide opportunities for Arizonans and those are not Democratic or Republican issues. Those are issues that Arizonans said we want you to deal with. And I focused on bringing Republicans and Democrats together to tackle those issues. And I think that that is something that resonated with Arizonans. And they gave me resoundingly a second term to continue working on those things. And I think at the same point, they didn't see other elected leaders delivering on those. And so they wanted to give. Other folks that try and so we're going to continue to work on that same agenda, which is an Arizona agenda and governor. Obviously you're coming into this with the Arizona looking very different than it did the past term that you had. So what does that mean for you as far as rubber stamping some of those big things that you want to get done done? Well, I think that over the last four years, I've shown that when we can put partisan politics aside and focus on the issue, when we're focused on bringing people together to tackle the challenges, that we can get big things done. We passed ag to urban legislation that is going to protect our groundwater and help us continue to grow and save money on housing for so many people that need housing right We passed legislation that protects jobs in Arizona, and we've passed- For bipartisan balanced budgets that cut taxes for Arizonans, that approach to governing is not going to change. There certainly are things that were on my agenda that the Republican majority in the legislature has blocked. We need to bring serious reform to the waste, fraud and abuse in the ESA entitlement program. And I'm looking forward to having the conversations to really get that done. I'm guessing maybe the day after you guys won the election, you sit down and John says, Let's talk about roles, right? It's the first time Arizona has ever had a lieutenant governor. What do you hope to accomplish? How do you see your role fitting with this administration? Well, my role is to help the governor deliver on all of the agenda items she just identified. Those are the... The things that the voters have spoken loud and clear that are their priorities, and I think there is going to be some advantage in having another set of hands, another set of ears in the governor's office to help deliver on those things. You know, first 100 days or so, what do you hope to accomplish, changes you want to see moving forward? Well, I think again, Arizonans have been really clear lowering costs is top of mind for them. I've done a lot to do that with repealing the rental tax, canceling over a billion dollars of medical debt, working to lower prescription drug costs, utility costs. There is certainly more to do there, especially when it comes to housing. And I know that the folks who won across the state, they all ran on that same agenda. So I'm really looking forward to getting in and making more progress on those issues. Mr. Giles, I wanted to ask you this too, because obviously you guys come from different political backgrounds. You were Republican. Obviously, Katie Hobbs is a Democrat. How do you guys think that you guys are gonna be able to govern together when there are differences of opinion when it comes to a certain topic here in Arizona? Well, I think that there's no confusion on the agenda, that the voters have identified that for us. And it's the issues that we just talked about, water and affordability and education. Those, I don't think, There's no reason those need to be partisan issues. When I was the mayor, I had great success in working with a very conservative group on my council and a very progressive group. And so I think checking partisanship at the door and looking for Arizona first solutions, like the governor mentioned, Thank you very much. It's really very exciting. You know, I think a big part of your administration and maybe why you won is because you had this promise of bipartisanship. You said, hey, we're going to work with people from both sides of the aisle. But now here in Arizona, the Democrats have both the House and the Senate. Speaking to some of those maybe independent voters or even moderately conservative here in Arizona, how do you do that now? How do you stay middle of the road when both your House and your Senate are fairly to the left. My approach to governing is not going to change. I'm going to continue to look for ways that we can bring people together regardless of their political party to solve the tough challenges that we're facing and to come up with solutions that work for Arizona. Because so many of the things we're dealing with, they're not Democratic or Republican issues, they're Arizona issues and we need to work together to find Arizona solutions. We've got about a minute left. You guys are going to start, I guess you're going to your first meeting tomorrow, is that correct? First staff meeting. First staff meeting tomorrow. What is going to be the number one, the first thing on the agenda when you guys get back in there? Well, I'm looking forward to getting to work with the new legislature and really move forward on a lot of the priorities that we... We weren't able to in the last four years continue to find ways to lower costs, really invest meaningfully in public education by reining in the waste, fraud, and abuse of the ESA program, but also sending a renewal of Prop 123, which will put billions of dollars into our public schools without raising taxes. I think those are top of mind. And we were just chatting a moment ago as we wrap up, you get to move in soon, right? Yes. Yes. Right. And who's the person that has the keys? Like, who owns the keys? Who handles the keys to the office and says, John, here's your key, this is your office? Is that the governor? It is the Department of Administration. I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'm going to go to the bathroom. Please control everyone's key access. There you go. She's the one with the best view. It's the receptionist in the tower. She's the one who knows how to unlock the elevator. She's got all the power, right? Yeah, thank you so much for coming in. Thank you. Yeah, appreciate it. Congratulations again. Thank you.