Hobbs campaign aide’s attack on Biggs omits key facts

In a post on X, Michael Beyer called attention to a story in American Journal News which points out that Biggs, as a state senator, was one of only three Arizona lawmakers to vote against a 2012 measure designed to restrict the ability of convicted sex offenders to serve as security guards or private investigators. And in a separate post, Beyer, the publicist for the Hobbs reelection campaign, repeated a line from the political story that the Republican gubernatorial hopeful whose "alleged pattern of voting to protect sexual predators has become a significant liability for his campaign.''

And when asked about it by Capitol Media Services, Beyer said it's another example of Biggs siding with abusers.

It is true that Biggs voted against the bill.

But what neither the media outlet nor Beyer mentions is that Biggs voted against the 2012 bill after citing a last-minute amendment that actually weakened the measure.

And that is not an explanation Biggs started making now. He publicly told colleagues that on April 10, 2012, when the proposal came to the full Senate. And in those contemporaneous comments, Biggs made clear his motive for his ``no'' vote had to do with the late change.

None of this is likely to end the bid by Hobbs and her campaign to paint Biggs, in their words, as a "predator protector.'' The governor already has released four separate commercials with that message.

She has also hammered away at the fact that Biggs, as a member of Congress, initially voted against the release of the files the Department of Justice has on convicted child molester Jeffrey Epstein. Biggs did oppose a resolution in committee but eventually voted for it on the House floor, something not mentioned by the governor.

But now Beyer, seeking to amplify the charges of Biggs protecting predators, is shining a light on that 2012 bill.

The measure, sponsored by then-Rep. David Gowan, was designed to close loopholes in law dealing with who could get a state license. It cleared the House unanimously.

But before a final roll-call vote, Sen. Rich Crandall added an amendment.

It allowed the Private Investigator and Security Guard Hearing Board to allow licensing if the crime committed was a misdemeanor and the person completed their terms of sentencing.

And it also said exceptions are available even in cases of felonies "if 10 or more years have passed since the person completed all terms of sentencing.'' That was the version that was presented to the full Senate for a final vote — and the version that Biggs opposed.

He acknowledged that the bill would still ban registered sex offenders from getting licensed.

But Biggs pointed out that the measure would allow felons convicted of various other offenses — including some that could be considered sex crimes — to get licensed simply because they weren't ever required to register as sex offenders and that some time had passed.

"Someone who has committed a sex offense previously, but 10 years has gone by, and they haven't been caught or they haven't been required to register, with this type of offense could also become a security guard at that point,'' he said in a floor speech.

"I don't know about you,'' Biggs told colleagues. "But that gives me pause. So I'm a 'no.' ''

He was not the only one. The measure also drew dissents from Senate President Steve Pierce and Sen. Ron Gould.

Beyer sidestepped a question of why he believes that vote makes Biggs unsuitable for governor. Instead, he doubled down on what has potentially become a key talking point by Hobbs and her campaign: painting Biggs as a protector of pedophiles.

"From protecting Warren Jeffs' corrupt pedophile cult in Colorado City to voting against bipartisan legislation to bar registered sex offenders from working as security guards and opposing the release of the Epstein Files, Andy Biggs has a disturbing pattern of siding with sexual predators instead of their victims,'' Beyer told Capitol Media Services.

"Time and again, Biggs has had the opportunity to protect vulnerable Arizonans, and time and again, he's chosen to stand on the side of their abusers,'' he said.

The neutrality of American Journal News can be called into question. A prime investor is the American Bridge 21st Century Foundation. And that is the nonprofit sister of American Bridge 21st Century, which lists itself as "the largest research, tracking, and rapid response operation in the Democratic Party.''

How much of an effect the allegations against Biggs have had on voter attitudes is unclear. Polls continue to show the GOP contender trailing by anywhere from five to 15 points.

But the Hobbs campaign continues to send out twice-daily pleas for money to fuel TV commercials attacking Biggs.

Most are related to Biggs' actions in 2013 when, as Senate president, he played at least some role in killing legislation designed to dissolve the police department in the polygamous community of Colorado City.

Republican Tom Horne, then the state attorney general, sought the change amid charges the department was protecting men who married young girls. There also were concerns —later borne out by a federal grand jury — that the agency remained under the control of Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints, even after he had been sent to federal prison in Texas.

Biggs initially said that he opposed the measure because of concerns by some police departments that the bill was overly broad and could be used against more than the Colorado City Marshal's Office.

But, strictly speaking, he didn't kill the bill. Instead, Biggs sent the House-passed bill to two separate committees, an unusual process in the Senate — and one that the two Republican sponsors of the measure said at the time was deliberately designed to kill it. But Biggs, in a debate earlier this month with No Labels gubernatorial candidate Teri Ann Hourihan, said he assigned the bill "appropriately.'' Hobbs did not participate in that debate.

Days after the debate that the governor sat out, her campaign released yet another ad attacking Biggs on the death of the 2013 bill, complete with a quote from Beyer.

"If he couldn't find the spine to stand up to a corrupt pedophile cult, why would anyone believe he'll stand up for Arizona now?'' Beyer said.