Gov. Katie Hobbs came unarmed to a knife fight with the Arizona Senate

Gov. Katie Hobbs suffered her first major defeat as governor on Tuesday, as the Arizona Senate rejected a key appointment to her Cabinet.

Just minutes before the vote, Hobbs tried to stop it from happening by withdrawing her nomination of Dr. Theresa Cullen to head the state Department of Health Services. But either she was too late or Senate Republicans were too determined to draw first blood.

It’s a mystery why Hobbs didn’t take defensive maneuvers to minimize the carnage after Cullen’s disastrous confirmation hearing last Thursday.

In withdrawing her appointment on Tuesday, Hobbs lashed out at Senate Republicans, saying their treatment of Cullen was “nothing short of harassment.”

She’s right. But Cullen’s preparation for her trip fantastic through the Senate gauntlet was nothing short of non-existent.

That’s on Hobbs.

Hobbs should've known they wanted a fight

It’s been clear since Hobbs narrowly won the election that Arizona’s MAGA Senate would be bringing out the long knives.

In previous Republican administrations, gubernatorial nominees have generally floated through the confirmation process.

Cullen wasn't worried:COVID-19 politics could derail health director

This year, Senate President Warren Petersen set up a special committee to vet Hobbs’ appointments. He tapped Sen. Jack Hoffman, the Queen Creek Republican who heads the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, to serve as its hatchetman, er I mean, chairman.

It was a given that Cullen’s three-and-a-half-hour confirmation hearing would be an inquisition.

Cullen couldn't answer key questions

She became Pima County’s health director shortly after pandemic began and played a key role in county’s response to COVID-19: the business lockdowns, the school closures, the push to get people immunized, the masks.

Hoffman repeatedly pressed Cullen about her recommendations to close schools, given the decline in learning.

“Do you believe at a macro level that the benefits of your recommendations to close schools outweighed the costs?“ he finally asked.

“I don't know,” Cullen replied.

He asked about the county’s two lockdown orders. She couldn’t recall the details of one of them.

He pressed Cullen on a website created by her department – the one that listed businesses that did not comply with COVID-19 rules. Cullen’s response was all over the place.

First, she said she didn’t create the site, then she acknowledged that she was responsible. Then she noted that the site had “little purpose” and that she had concerns about it all along but had no choice in putting it up.

Prepared to head DHS, not prepared for this

Rep. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, asked Cullen about a 2021 comment she made to the Arizona Daily Star, calling it the “ultimate arrogance and privilege to think that you don’t need to get immunized” for COVID-19.

Cullen’s response was hardly inspiring: “In certain times of surges, I made recommendations, and I made comments that I would not make today.”

The committee voted 3-2 along party lines to recommend that her nomination be rejected. On Tuesday, it was.

Gee, what a surprise.

Cullen had the support of the medical community and with 27 years in public health, she had the credentials to do the job.

It’s worth mentioning that Pima County had the third-lowest rate of infection in the state on her watch, and the second-lowest death rate, according to DHS data.

In short, she was supremely prepared to oversee the Department of Health Services.

She just wasn’t prepared to undergo the grilling before a political panel that was positively delighted to stick it the state’s first Democratic governor in 14 years.

A GOP Senate isn't the only one to blame

She should have been prepared. By the Governor’s Office. It’s not as if you couldn’t guess what questions Hoffman would be asking.

In trying to pull back Cullen’s nomination on Tuesday, Hobbs was fuming, saying the panel’s treatment of her nominee “was nothing short of harassment and those who participated in it should be ashamed of their behavior – we all should.”

“As long as Republicans choose politics over the people of Arizona, some of the most talented and qualified candidates will choose not to enter state service, and it is the people of Arizona who will suffer most because of these political games,” Hobbs said.

And as long as the Governor’s Office comes unarmed to a knife fight, the Senate is going draw blood. Every time.

Dr. Cullen didn’t deserve what happened to her. But Republican senators aren’t the only ones to blame.

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 came unarmed to a fight with the Arizona Senate