Hobbs Continues Veto Campaign Against Key Legislation

With barely two sessions under her belt, Hobbs has secured her place in Arizona history as the governor most difficult to work with. She has been the least willing to deal fairly with the opposite party, the least helpful, and the most likely to veto bills that she does not like, without regard as to what negative effect her vetoes would have on the welfare of Arizona.

Up until now, Janet Napolitano, governor from 2003 to 2008, held the record for most vetoes in a single session, most lifetime vetoes, and highest ratio of vetoes to bills sent to her.

But it took Napolitano 6 sessions to achieve all that. It took Hobbs only 2 sessions.

Here is a summary of Hobb’s accomplishments compared to Napolitano’s

Vetoes	Napolitano	Hobbs
Single session number of vetoes	58	143
Lifetime number of vetoes	180	185
Lifetime ratio of vetoes to bills sent	8.6	33.2

YEAR	BILLS VETOED	BILLS SENT	VETO RATIO (%)
2003	17	287	5.9
2004	8	352	2.3
2005	58 (a)	341	17.0 (b)
2006	43	439	9.8
2007	22	319	6.9
2008	32	349	9.2
TOTALS	180	2087	8.6
YEAR	BILLS VETOED	BILLS SENT	VETO RATIO (%)
2023	143	348	41.1
2024	42	209	20.1
TOTALS	185	557	33.2

These are some of the more egregious Hobbs vetoes:

HB2183 – parental rights; medical records

Bogus excuse: The measure as written could put the health of vulnerable Arizonans at risk.

Fact: Parents want the best for their children. Those who do not, are covered by exclusions within this bill.

HB2629 – schools; instruction; victims of communism

Bogus excuse: This issue was already addressed by HB2008, passed in 2022.

Fact: The 2022 law only requires a comparative study of various forms of government. There is no requirement that Communism be portrayed as the horrible form of government that it is.

SB1231 – state crime; illegal border crossings

Bogus excuse: Harmful for communities and burdensome for law enforcement.

Fact: Nothing could be more harmful for communities than the open border policy we have now in effect. There is nothing burdensome about requiring that law enforcement personnel enforce the law.

SB1628 – sex-based terms; laws; rules; regulations

Bogus excuse: This legislation attacks Arizonans

Fact: Nothing in this bill can be honestly construed as attacking Arizonans. Just the opposite is true.

Is this the type of behavior that most Arizonans want from their governor? We will know the answer after the 2026 election.