Hobbs wins
Gaynor concedes in SecState race
PHOENIX — Steve Gaynor finally conceded late Friday he isn’t going to be Arizona secretary of state.
In a Twitter post, the Republican contender said he called Democrat Katie Hobbs to congratulate her for winning the race.
But by that point Gaynor was simply admitting what was already obvious to others — including Gov. Doug Ducey who said hours earlier he already had reached out to Hobbs after concluding there is no way his fellow Republican is going to be secretary of state.
“I said, ‘Congratulations, a race well run, and I’m looking forward to working with you, I think we can work well together,’” the governor said.
Ducey’s decision to effectively call the race for Hobbs, currently the Senate minority leader, came even before the vote tally released Friday night showed her increasing her lead over Gaynor since Thursday by close to 2,000. She now leads the race by more than 15,000 votes wth nearly 2.3 million ballots already counted.
There were only about 67,000 ballots left to be counted.
That includes 60,000 from Maricopa County where Hobbs is slightly outpolling Gaynor. The balance are from Pima County which has provided three votes for Hobbs for every two for Gaynor.
As Gaynor’s late-night concession acknowledged, there was virtually no way for him to catch up.
Ducey, in speaking with reporters Friday, said he also is reaching out to other Democrats who won their statewide races against Republicans.
“I’ve spoken with Senator-elect (Kyrsten) Sinema and we’re going to be visiting on Monday,’’ the governor said. And Ducey said he “left a message for Kathy Hoffman’’ who won the race for state superintendent of public instruction over Republican Frank Riggs.
“So I’m going to be working with all elected leaders, just like I’m going to be governor of all the people,’’ he said.
On paper, the secretary of state office is largely administrative.
It’s most visible duty is oversight of state elections. But the actual conduct of the vote and the tallying is done at the county level, albeit under rules that the secretary of state adopts with the approval of the attorney general.
The agency has other responsibilities, including regulating notaries, keeping track of telephone solicitors, registering trade names and being a central place for individuals to file “advanced directives.’’
But what could be the most significant part of the job involves waiting — and being available — should the governor die, quit or otherwise be removed from office.
Unlike many other states, Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor. That puts the secretary of state first in line of succession, a process that has played out multiple times in the past few decades.
Potentially more significant, there is no requirement that the person elected to this spot be of the same party or share the political philosophy of whoever he or she replaces.
That’s precisely what occurred in 2009 when Democrat Janet Napolitano quit to take a job in the Obama administration. That elevated Republican Jan Brewer to the post.
Sometimes the transitions are less voluntary.
Republican Fife Symington had to quit in 1997 after being convicted in federal court on criminal fraud charges. That conviction was later overturned by a federal appeals court and he was not retried after being pardoned by President Clinton. But by that time it was too late to reclaim the office that had been assumed by fellow Republican Jane Hull.
Also leaving, and not by his own accord, was Republican Ev Mecham who was impeached and convicted in 1988. That put Secretary of State Rose Mofford, a Democrat, into the governor’s office.
And when Democrat Raul Castro quit after being offered the job as ambassador to Argentina in 1977 by President Carter, he was succeeded by Wesley Bolin.
As it turned out, Bolin died after less than a year in office.
Under normal circumstances the job would have gone to the secretary of state. That was Mofford whom Bolin appointed to replace him.
But because Mofford had never been elected to that office, the line of succession went to the next in line: Attorney General Bruce Babbitt.
That actually changed Arizona history.
As attorney general, Babbitt, a Democrat, had been contemplating a run in 1980 for U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Barry Goldwater. But once Babbitt found himself governor he decided to keep the job, winning a full four-year term in 1978 and reelected in 1982.
The question of succession came up when Gaynor debated Reagan ahead of the GOP primary. Gaynor said if he is elected “I will study the governor’s office in order to be prepared.’’
Hobbs, first elected to the Legislature in 2010, waged a campaign similar to the successful effort of fellow Democrat Sinema in her winning bid for U.S. Senate, stressing her ability to work with Republicans.
In fact, one of Hobbs’ TV ads shows her shaking hands with Republican Gov Doug Ducey after he signed bipartisan legislation to deal with the state’s opioid crisis. And Ducey also publicly credited Hobbs with getting him to promise to fully fund the processing of all untested rape kits.
Gaynor, a political neophyte who defeated incumbent Michele Reagan in the GOP primary, made a point of saying he “supports the policies and achievements of the Trump administration,’’ ranging from appointing judges who would not make laws and “challenging the status quo in troubled foreign relationships such as with Iran, North Korea and China.’’