Why Arizonans can't see Gov. Katie Hobbs' fundraising numbers, but can see others

A political threat has been hanging over the Arizona Capitol for almost a year since Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said she would use her fundraising prowess to try to overturn Republicans' majorities in the Legislature.

Want to know how much money she raised in 2023 for that takeover, or toward a potential reelection bid of her own in 2026?

She's not telling. And she doesn't have to, at least not yet.

According to Arizona law, officeholders serving four-year terms who will run for a second term do not have to make details of their campaign finances public for three years. That was not always the case. Prior to 2016, candidates and officeholders were required to make public reports at least every year.

Under state law, Hobbs does not have to publicly detail the money flowing to and from her main campaign bank account until January 2026, when she would face reelection. That leaves Arizonans in the dark for all of 2023, 2024, and 2025 as Hobbs has continued fundraising.

One campaign finance expert said the three-year window without any public disclosure is unusual compared to other states. The consequence, according to Brendan Glavin, deputy research director at the money-in-politics watchdog OpenSecrets, is that the public knows nothing about who is donating to officeholders as those officials spend taxpayer dollars and shape state policy.

"They're doing their job and people are giving them money, and the citizens don't know who's out there trying to influence these sitting officeholders until a couple of years have gone by," Glavin said.

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Hobbs, an outlier, breaks from her own precedent

Hobbs is an outlier and broke from her own precedent.

Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes filed a report in January detailing fundraising and spending in 2023. So did Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, Republican Treasurer Kimberly Yee, Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne and Republican Mine Inspector Paul Marsh.

It seems the difference comes down to when the officeholders, each elected in 2022, update the election date in the state's campaign finance software.

Hobbs said in an interview her campaign could not file a report with the Secretary of State's system because it had already updated her campaign account for the 2026 election cycle. Officeholders elected in 2022 who had not updated their election year were still able to file annually, secretary of state spokesperson JP Martin said.

"There's not even a mechanism to file even if I wanted to," Hobbs told The Arizona Republic, adding: "I did want to."

"I updated my committee to '26, which is the appropriate thing to do, still thinking that I filed a report in January of this year," she said.

As Arizona's secretary of state from 2018 to 2022, Hobbs oversaw the state's campaign finance reporting and disclosure software, including overhauling the public reporting system launched by her predecessor. Her office wrote the guidebook for candidates to follow the law, which includes an example of the three-year reporting gap.

Hobbs filed at least annual reports while she was secretary of state and after announcing her run for governor, records show. Asked to explain what changed, Hobbs said she didn't know and suggested it was a result of reporting system upgrades. Martin said the system was unchanged since Fontes took office.

Hobbs said in the interview she supported more frequent disclosure, but her campaign arm declined to provide financial details.

"I'm actively raising funds for reelection," Hobbs said. "I think Arizonans have a right to see that, there's just not a way to do that," she said. Hobbs' chief political strategist declined to make the information available outside of the official system.

“As we always have and always will, we follow the laws in place that dictate our deadlines for campaign finance reports to ensure we file every report on time and with all of the necessary information," said Nicole DeMont, who also ran Hobbs' gubernatorial campaign.

2016 law change makes Arizona stand out

Bills passed by the GOP-majority state Legislature and signed into law in 2016 by then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, cut back how often candidates have to tell the public about their finances.

Previously, the law required statewide candidates or officeholders to report at least annually and more frequently in election years even if they weren't on the ballot, according to Tom Collins, executive director of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

The commission was created by voters in 1998 to do campaign finance enforcement and other elections work. It opposed the 2016 changes the commission viewed as scaling back transparency laws that exist to prevent corruption and the appearance of corruption in state government and politics.

Arizona's law is unusual compared to other states, according to Glavin, the researcher at OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks money in politics across the country. He said the national standard is to file reports at least once a year, even in the off years between elections, if there was any political spending or donor activity.

"That’s really the baseline and [OpenSecrets researchers] were unaware of any other instances of a rule like this existing," Glavin said of Arizona's law.

Collins said that gap contradicts the will of Arizona voters, who have favored knowing who is paying for political campaigns. He cited, among other things, the overwhelming support in 2022 for a law that requires more public reporting by so-called dark money groups that previously were not required to disclose their donors.

"Voters are not on the side of keeping financial information about candidates or other election spenders out of the public view," Collins said.

Questions of transparency

Lawmakers and officeholders contacted by The Arizona Republic said they would support changing the law to require more frequent reporting.

Fontes said in a statement the law left "clear opportunity for improvement."

“I’m in favor of the Arizona Legislature re-evaluating our campaign finance reporting schedule to align with the practices of other states, enhancing our democratic process by providing the voters with a more immediate and clear understanding of a candidate's financial backing," Fontes said.

Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said the reporting issue "definitely needs to be fixed."

Petersen suggested the law could be updated as part of pressing negotiations at the Capitol to reconcile the state's automatic recount law with looming deadlines for the 2024 election cycle.

Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, has been a critic of the governor related to her campaign pledges to build the "most ethical and accountable administration in history." Hobbs' use of a dark money group to fundraise for her inauguration last year led to scrutiny from Shope and other lawmakers, who ultimately passed a bill Hobbs signed that imposes new fundraising limits and more reporting requirements.

Shope questioned why Hobbs would make details of her fundraising public more often as secretary of state but not after becoming governor. State legislators like Shope and Petersen, who are on the ballot this year, filed reports detailing their financials for all of 2023 in January, and have to file several reports this year around the primary and general elections.

"Why can't we just show our cards?" he said. "The rest of us have shown our cards. The public has a right to know."

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gov. Katie Hobbs won't detail spending, but Fontes, Mayes, others did