When former GOP favorite Kari Lake contested the results of the 2022 general election following a disastrous Election Day in Maricopa County, Governor Katie Hobbs didn’t have to fret over a costly legal battle — special interest groups had the bill covered.
It wasn’t a sudden change of heart on the governor’s part that made known the existence of this secret special interests fund. Hobbs was found out, once again.
Arizona Capitol Times discovered an undisclosed legal fund established by Hobbs’ team to cover her campaign’s legal fees thanks to records published by what’s believed to be one of the biggest donors: the Arizona Public Service (APS) parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corp.
Editor’s Note: The investigation and story published in the Arizona Capitol Times is a product of Capitol Media Services.
Pinnacle West Capital Corp. gave Hobbs $100,000 through her “Katie Hobbs Legal Defense Fund,” per the company’s Political Participation Policy annual expenditures report.
Their donation to Hobbs for legal fees marked their largest political donation last year.
Following their generous donations to Hobbs’ inaugural and legal defense funds, Arizona Public Service received a serious benefit with the signing of a bill they wrote enabling them to begin securitizing. Hobbs defended the bill as a means of lowering energy costs and creating jobs.
Even though this marks yet another secret fund exposed, Hobbs refuses to provide further transparency. It is not yet known how many other special interest groups have donated to the fund, nor how much the fund contains. Campaign spokesman Michael Beyer defended the fund’s creation in a statement to Arizona Capitol Times, but didn’t speak to the decision to keep details of the fund under wraps.
“Kari Lake baselessly challenged the results of a free and fair election she lost,” said Beyer. “We won eight times in court, and yet Lake fought the results all the way through November 2024 when she finally lost her last appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.”
Hobbs relied on pro bono counsel, States United, for the 2022 challenges, alongside the firm Coppersmith Brockelman.
Hobbs and Maricopa County requested nearly $700,000 in attorney fees and legal costs, which the judge denied. The judge did order Lake to pay over $33,000 in expert witness fees, however.
This latest discovery is in keeping with the governor’s practice of shadowy fundraising from special interest organizations. In fact, Hobbs began her administration that way.
With the help of her campaign manager, Nicole DeMont, Hobbs established a 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization titled “The Katie Hobbs Inaugural Fund.” This classification of nonprofit is exempt from disclosing its donors. Hobbs and her team used state resources to solicit funding.
Others officers for the inaugural fund were Erin Fyffe and Debra Hammes.
Although the inauguration cost about $200,000 — well within ability of the Katie Hobbs Inaugural Fund to pay, having raised almost $2 million — the organization reported insufficient funds for outstanding invoices. Hobbs refused to transfer leftover money from her inaugural fund to the Governor’s Protocol Fund, flaunting the standard set by governors past and ignoring requests from then-House Speaker Ben Toma, Senate President Warren Petersen, and House Appropriations Committee Chair David Livingston.
This story was updated on May 19, 2025 at 9:16 p.m.