No surprise, but Gov. Katie Hobbs announces she won't debate Rep. Andy Biggs

"Face-to-face engagement with Arizonans is more effective than a stage designed for short soundbites and political theater,'' Hobbs'‘campaign manager, Nicole DeMont, said in announcing late Thursday that the governor, as expected, won't debate.

Instead, DeMont said Hobbs will focus on traveling around the state to listen to what people want.

Some of what Hobbs has called her Arizona First Tour has involved events arranged ahead of time, with a list of people invited to give their views to the governor. That is far different than a debate where each candidate is asked questions by a moderator, and each can immediately respond to what the other has stated.

But Hobbs' campaign press aide Michael Beyer said there have been multiple events open to the public.

Her campaign listed a series of events, including meeting with owners of restaurants about how tariffs are affecting local businesses, touring the Curry Seed & Chili Co. with farmer Ed Curry to discuss water security and agriculture, and celebrating National Drive-Thru Day at a Burger King where Hobbs worked in high school — an event that produced a picture of Hobbs standing under a sign reading "Home of the Whopper.''

Hobbs also opened campaign offices around the state for Copper State Victory, which is promoting her reelection as well as that of other Democratic candidates.

Her debate decision was not exactly a surprise.

The last time she agreed to a debate was in October 2018 when, as a state senator and never having run for statewide office before, she ran successfully against Republican Steve Gaynor for secretary of state.

When Hobbs decided to run for governor, she refused to debate former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez, her rival in the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Nor would she face off against Republican Kari Lake in that year's general election.

Hobbs has been running ahead this year in polls, though none has been taken since Biggs won the four-way GOP primary on July 21. But the incumbent has yet to secure the support of a majority of those questioned in the publicly available polls. And a third of the state's registered voters are not affiliated with either major party.

That point was not lost on Drew Sexton, an adviser to the Biggs campaign.

"The independent and persuadable voters up for grabs in Arizona deserve to hear from statewide candidates in a traditional debate setting,'' he said. Sexton said that was the case going back to 1954, unbroken until the 2022 election.

But Biggs himself did not participate in debates in 2022 and 2024 when he was running for reelection to Congress.

Sexton said there's no comparison.

"There's a difference between congressional and statewide debates in terms of the ability to reach out and actually connect with voters,'' he said.

What also is true is that Biggs' congressional district is heavily Republican and he was considered a shoo-in for reelection to that office.

Sexton did say Biggs will participate in the debate being organized for Oct. 6 by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Less clear is who — if anyone — he will be debating, since Hobbs won't show up. 

There are two other candidates for governor who won their primaries: Teri Ann Hourihan for the No Labels Party and Risa Lombardo for the Green Party.

But Tom Collins, executive director of the commission, said no decision has been made yet whether the minor parties will be invited to participate.

The decision by Hobbs to avoid what DeMont called "short soundbites and political theater'' did not stop DeMont from creating some of that in her statement.

"Arizonans deserve so much better than Andy Biggs, a Washington insider who has refused to participate in past debates and forums and refuses to answer for his records of raising costs and siding with a corrupt pedophile cult,'' DeMont wrote. 

The latter reference is to the fact that Biggs in 2013 used his position as Arizona Senate president to quash a House-passed bill that would have forced the dissolution of the police department in the polygamous community of Colorado City. Backers of the legislation said there was evidence the police department conspired with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to hide underage marriages.

Biggs sidelined the bill after saying it was opposed by the Arizona Police Association. But that opposition was based on concerns by other small police departments that they could be affected.

Sexton, for his part, cited the fact that Hobbs is being investigated by Attorney General Kris Mayes and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell about whether a decision to give a huge increase in payments to Sunshine Residential for housing foster children was linked to the fact that its owner contributed $400,000 to Hobbs and the Arizona Democratic Party.

He also said Hobbs was "publicly rejected'' in a bid to bring on Jimmy McCain, son of the late Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain, as lieutenant governor.

Beyer declined to comment on the process Hobbs is using to select a running mate.