{"id":2643211,"date":"2026-08-11T15:22:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T19:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/katie-hobbs-selects-republican-john-giles-as-running-mate\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T15:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T19:24:41","slug":"katie-hobbs-selects-republican-john-giles-as-running-mate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/katie-hobbs-selects-republican-john-giles-as-running-mate\/","title":{"rendered":"Katie Hobbs selects Republican John Giles as running mate"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkatie-hobbs-selects-republican-john-giles-as-running-mate%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2643211&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Governor Katie Hobbs of Arizona selected former Mesa Mayor John Giles, a Republican-turned-Self-reliant, as her running mate for her reelection campaign against GOP candidate Andy Biggs. Hobbs emphasized her commitment to prioritizing Arizonans over partisan politics, highlighting her efforts to combat illegal immigration and lower taxes. Giles, who served as Mesa&#8217;s mayor from 2014 to 2025 and has a history of criticizing former President Trump, expressed pride in joining Hobbs\u2019s Democratic ticket, citing her focus on putting Arizona first. Biggs,backed by Trump and Turning Point USA,has criticized Hobbs&#8217;s policies and campaigned on border security and reducing costs through tax cuts. This year marks the first Arizona election allowing gubernatorial candidates to select their own lieutenant governor. Hobbs narrowly defeated Republican Kari Lake in 2022, and polls currently show her race against Biggs as leaning Democratic, though it remains competitive.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/katie-hobbs\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"8904\">Katie Hobbs<\/a> (D-AZ) tapped the former Republican mayor John Giles of Mesa, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/arizona\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"327\">Arizona<\/a>, as her running mate ahead of her November reelection matchup against GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/andy-biggs\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"11421\">Andy Biggs<\/a> (R-AZ).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe first thing I looked for in a running mate was someone who shares that value of putting Arizonans ahead of partisan politics. That\u2019s why I\u2019m proud to introduce my running mate, former Mesa Mayor John Giles,\u201d Hobbs said in her announcement message.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4682885\/katie-hobbs-running-mate-john-giles-arizona-gubernatorial-race\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Katie Hobbs selects former Republican Mesa mayor as running mate<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4681456\/wisconsin-gubernatorial-primary-dsa-socialism-francesca-hong\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Francesca Hong wants to be the DSA\u2019s first governor. Tuesday may bring her closer to the goal<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4676631\/klobuchar-hopes-overcome-fraud-scandals-plagued-walz-minnesota-governor-race\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Amy Klobuchar hopes to overcome fraud scandals that plagued Tim Walz in Minnesota governor race<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Giles led the city east of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/phoenix\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"486\">Phoenix<\/a> as mayor from 2014 to 2025. County records showed him as registered as a Republican until May 2026, when he changed his voter registration to independent, according to multiple reports. Giles has <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/opinion\/op-ed\/2024\/07\/29\/mesa-mayor-republican-vote-kamala-harris\/74583703007\/?gnt-cfr=1&#038;gca-cat=p&#038;gca-uir=true&#038;gca-epti=z115348e1151xxv115348d--59--b--59--&#038;gca-ft=143&#038;gca-ds=sophi\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/opinion\/op-ed\/2024\/07\/29\/mesa-mayor-republican-vote-kamala-harris\/74583703007\/?gnt-cfr=1&#038;gca-cat=p&#038;gca-uir=true&#038;gca-epti=z115348e1151xxv115348d--59--b--59--&#038;gca-ft=143&#038;gca-ds=sophi\">long been a critic<\/a> of President Donald Trump, going against party lines as a registered GOP member and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was a lifelong Republican before becoming an independent because extremists shouldn\u2019t stand in the way of getting things done,\u201d Giles said in the Tuesday announcement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Giles said he is \u201cproud\u201d to join the Democratic ticket as Hobbs\u2019s pick for lieutenant governor because he believes Hobbs \u201cwill continue to put Arizona first.\u201d In the announcement video, Hobbs also touted her efforts to crack down on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/illegal-immigration\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"1681\">illegal immigration<\/a> at Arizona\u2019s southern border and lower taxes as she attempts to pull bipartisan support ahead of her matchup against Biggs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhether you\u2019re a Democrat, Independent, or Republican, if you believe in protecting our freedoms and putting Arizona first, we\u2019re ready to fight for you,\u201d Hobbs said in her <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/katiehobbs\/status\/2087162216672027007?s=20\">message<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Biggs, who is backed by Trump and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/turning-point-usa\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"2923\">Turning Point USA<\/a>, has hit Hobbs hard for taking Arizona in \u201cthe way of California,\u201d in a campaign ad for the Arizona gubernatorial race. Biggs has <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/biggsforarizona.com\/issues\/\">campaigned<\/a> on working with Trump to secure the southern border and on making Arizona more affordable by lowering taxes and reducing government regulations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the first year Arizona has allowed gubernatorial candidates to select their own <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/lieutenant-governor\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"4399\">lieutenant governor<\/a> picks, instead of running separately. Hobbs\u2019s pick of Giles was publicly announced Tuesday, despite a <em>New York Times<\/em> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/04\/us\/elections\/arizona-governor-running-mate.html\">report<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Biggs selected former GOP state Sen. Sine Kerr as his running mate in late July. Kerr <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/azmirror.com\/2026\/07\/31\/andy-biggs-chooses-sine-kerr-for-running-mate-leaning-into-rural-arizona\/\">currently serves<\/a> as Arizona\u2019s state executive director of the Farm Service Agency under the Trump administration\u2019s Department of Agriculture, according to the <em>Arizona Mirror<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4656807\/biggs-hobbs-republican-primary-arizona-governor-race\/\">BIGGS WINS REPUBLICAN PRIMARY, WILL FACE HOBBS IN ARIZONA GOVERNOR RACE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hobbs has led in limited <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/polls\/arizona-governor-election-polls-2026.html\">polling<\/a> by usually single-digit margins, and the race is <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cookpolitical.com\/governor\/race\/479456\">considered<\/a> \u201cLeans Democratic\u201d by the <em>Cook Political Report<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Hobbs bested GOP candidate Kari Lake by just 0.7 percentage points in her 2022 election. Trump also flipped the state in 2024, beating Harris by a 5.5-percentage-point margin.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hobbs chose ex-Republican mayor Giles as her running mate for Arizona governor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3976,"featured_media":2643212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hobbs-2024-scaled-e1786473139251.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[36739,42893,83995,55867,83996],"class_list":["post-2643211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-arizona-politics","tag-elections-2024","tag-john-giles","tag-katie-hobbs","tag-political-running-mates"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hobbs-2024-scaled-e1786473139251.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2643211"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2643214,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643211\/revisions\/2643214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2643212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2643211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2643211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2643211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}