Katie Hobbs won't debate Kari Lake and now Hobbs' campaign is apparently working hard to keep her away from the media

Doug P. | 1:58 PM on October 19, 2022

Katie Hobbs, Democrat gubernatorial candidate in Arizona, will not be debating her Republican opponent Kari Lake ahead of the election next month. Why? Because she’s just got too much on her schedule already (cue sarcastic eye roll).

Now it’s looking like the Hobbs campaign isn’t only dodging Lake, but the media as well:

Reporters were held in a room at Arizona’s largest journalism school Tuesday and prevented from questioning gubernatorial candidate @katiehobbss, who left in a freight elevator @Cronkite_ASU. Story by @sbarchenger via @azcentral https://t.co/I4z3Nz4Ttz

— Robert Anglen (@robertanglen) October 19, 2022

"…a departure from normal protocol when media is invited to view interviews or debates at Arizona PBS."

"Hobbs' spokeswoman said Hobbs had to get to her next event and couldn't take questions. Asked what that event was, [she] did not respond."https://t.co/3k4KHh1upY

— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) October 19, 2022

This is a direct threat to “democracy” and Jim Acosta’s going to write another book about it, right? Right!?

https://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/1582775686938255372

It sure sounds like the Hobbs campaign is trying to run out the clock until the election less than three weeks away:

Democratic candidate for governor Katie Hobbs stayed on message and reiterated many of her same points on the economy, abortion, education and immigration during a 30-minute interview with Arizona PBS on Tuesday.

What was unusual, however, was how the interview itself came to be — and its aftermath.
[…]
Evading the question about why she skipped facing a Democratic opponent in a debate ahead of the primary election as well, Hobbs said it “wasn’t an issue” since voters overwhelmingly chose her.

Following the interview, she quickly left through a freight elevator as reporters were forced to wait in another room.