Chad Campbell can turn Katie Hobbs into a governor

There’s hope yet for Gov. Katie Hobbs.

On Wednesday, she named veteran Democratic strategist Chad Campbell as her new chief of staff.

Campbell is a former four-term legislator and strong in ways that Hobbs, surprisingly, is not.

Most importantly, he’s strategic, he has good relationships on both sides of the aisle and he knows how to go about winning what is — or should be — achievable.

He’ll help Hobbs avoid further blunders with Democratic legislators, who have been largely sidelined and at times absolutely blindsided by an administration that clearly was not ready for prime time.

Gov. Hobbs has had her share of blunders

Exhibit A has been Hobbs’ inability to get the Republican-controlled Senate to confirm more than a bare handful of her Cabinet appointees.

Exhibit B was her handling of the tamale bill, which was a case study in a Governor’s Office that has been largely disengaged from the Legislature.

The bill, to legalize the already common practice of selling homemade food on the street, breezed through the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support, only to be vetoed by Hobbs.

The surprise move left some sizable bruises on her Democratic allies, who then had to scramble to spare Hobbs from the indignity of an override.

Exhibit C: The budget.

Long story short, Hobbs gave up more than she got, abandoning her vow to rein in the state’s runaway universal voucher law to the chagrin (and surprise) of her own Democratic allies who were cut out of the negotiations.

Campbell knows how to work with lawmakers

One Democratic consultant, who like most declined to publicly criticize the governor, called Hobbs’ handling of the budget a “debacle”.

“I don’t think her team ever had a strategy,” the consultant told me.  “I don’t blame this on her. This is her team.”

Gravitas: What Hobbs needs to become governor again

So it’s out with the head of her team, former social worker Allie Bones, and in with Campbell, a longtime politico who understands how to work with the Legislature and how to leverage the not-inconsiderable power the governor already has at her fingertips.

Expect to see him get to work immediately on a plan for what Hobbs can achieve next year — as opposed to her focus thus far, which primarily has been on what she can prevent via her well-used veto stamp.

Priorities he should address: Vouchers, water

Me? I’d like to like see Hobbs find a way to slow the growth of universal vouchers, an initially projected $33 million program now headed to $900 million next year. But the Legislature has only budgeted $500 million in next year's budget. So where's the rest going to come from? (Don't say the surplus. Our leaders have already spent that.)

While she’s at it, she could work to ensure that all children have access to free all-day kindergarten.

Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano won state funding of all-day K, on the condition that she would not veto the Republicans’ initial school voucher program. But all-day K was a casualty of the Great Recession.

Hobbs should spreadhead the drive to bring it back.

She also should take a stand on water.

It’s beyond ridiculous that this state is not taking swift action to stop the wholesale pumping of Arizona’s dwindling rural water supply or to explore what the state will do now that we know there isn’t enough water available to support planned development in the West Valley … or likely, elsewhere.

Now we know: Hobbs can learn from mistakes

Most immediately, Campbell needs to figure out a way to negotiate a deal to gain legislative approval to put Proposition 400 — Maricopa County’s soon-to-expire transportation tax — on the 2024 ballot.

Republican lawmakers despise light rail. So much so that they’re willing to block voters from deciding whether they want to continue funding the Valley’s freeways, arterial streets, buses and yes, those hated light-rail trains.

This alternative is to stifle the economy and job growth in this, the fastest growing county in the country.

Then there's the need to repair some bruised relationships.

Campbell has his hands full.

And Hobbs, in appointing him, has shown she can learn from her mistakes.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gov. Katie Hobbs proves she can learn from her mistakes