While campaigning for the state’s top spot, candidate Katie Hobbs had a difficult time keeping campaign staff on the job. That pattern has followed Governor Katie Hobbs into Arizona’s highest office, and on Friday she announced a staff overhaul just a few months into her first year in office.
Remember this from the campaign trail? –>
"In the past five months, two-thirds of Democrat @KatieHobbs' gubernatorial campaign staff have left …" https://t.co/wS6AkWRnpv #AZGov #AZLeghttps://t.co/BA9Y7IdW39 pic.twitter.com/Z3fTqcuR01
— Brian Anderson (@AZBrianAnderson) April 1, 2023
The overhaul follows a rough week for Hobbs, who was forced to seek the resignation of her spokesperson Josselyn Berry for her violent message on Twitter the same day of the tragic mass shooting in Nashville by a transman.
Josselyn Berry had tweeted an image that appeared to advocate violence toward people she deems to be “transphobes” mere hours after a transman killed three adults and three young children at a Christian school in Nashville.
If you work for me, and I ask you for your resignation, should the story be reported as you resigned? Or that you were fired? Feels like Gov #Hobbs wanted her gone but didn’t want to be responsible for firing her so she wouldn’t get militant trans voters mad at her.
— Constantin Querard (@CQuerard) March 29, 2023
In the wake of Berry’s scandal, Hobbs attempted to reassure Arizona’s powerbrokers that she had not completely abdicated control of the office to the extreme wing of the Democratic Party, claiming that the reorganization of her leadership team was done in “consultation with the National Governors Association,” and “using best practices from other states.”
Hobbs changed little however, with much of the same team she had from her time on the campaign trail simply shuffled into other positions.
Changes include:
Will Gaona, who previously served as Director of Public Affairs, will now serve as the Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff. He had previously worked in municipal government and the nonprofit sector, including stints at Protect Democracy, the ACLU of Arizona, and the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence.
Jennifer Loredo will shift duties from Director of Community Engagement to Director of Policy, Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. Loredo has 22 years of legislative and community organizing experience and was most recently the Arizona Education Association’s External Affairs Director.
Tracy Lopes will now serve as the Director of Community and Constituent Engagement. Most recently, Lopes had served as the Chief of Staff for the Democratic Caucus of the Arizona House of Representatives.
Director of Communications, Murphy Hebert is out of a job, but Hobbs’ office “declined to reveal whether she resigned or was fired,” according to journalist Wayne Schutsky.
Every single person on the Ninth Floor, including and especially @KatieHobbs, is in over their heads.
And everybody — everybody, even the people who supported her campaign — knows it.https://t.co/ElmigIwOXH
— Brian Anderson (@AZBrianAnderson) April 1, 2023
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