On Wednesday, Arizona State Rep. David Livingston filed a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office pointing out that Attorney General Mayes has express statutory authority to investigate whether Arizona law allows a Governor-Elect to use government resources to fundraise for political entities that make expenditures to influence elections.
The complaint comes several months after Livingston requested a legal opinion from Mayes, seeking guidance about whether Arizona law allowed then Governor-Elect Katie Hobbs to fundraise through a state website promoting inaugural events. Mayes declined to provide a legal opinion, stating there were factual questions that made the issue inappropriate for a legal opinion.
Contrary to Mayes’ claim, she used the same authority earlier this year when she filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against Cochise County, citing concerns that without taking legal action, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors might hide actions that should be done publicly in compliance with Arizona’s open meeting law.
In February, Livingston accused Hobbs of stonewalling lawyers and legislators like him, who simply wanted to know what she had done with the over $1 million in private funds she raised through government resources for her inaugural celebrations.
According to Livingston, a disclosure by Hobbs revealed that the State Inaugural Fund lacked sufficient funds to pay outstanding invoices.
As previously reported by the Arizona Daily Independent, The Katie Hobbs Inaugural Fund, registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission on Dec. 13 by Hobbs’ campaign manager Nicole DeMont as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization, spent less than $210,000 on the event.
Questions about using government resources for campaign fundraising became relevant when Hobbs declared that leftover funds would be used to help Democrats take control of the State Legislature in the 2024 elections.