The central tragedy of HBO’s political satire “Veep” is that Vice President Selina Meyer holds the second-highest office in the country, but has very little power to do anything with it.
Arizona lawmakers tried to avoid that predicament when they created the lieutenant governor’s office, and they required whoever fills the position to take on another job in state government.
But less than two weeks before Election Day, neither Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs nor Republican challenger Andy Biggs has given voters any clarity on what their second-in-command would actually do after Arizona’s first lieutenant governor takes office next year.
Instead, both lieutenant governor picks have said they’ll tell you after the election.
It’s absurd enough to make for a good “Veep” episode, but Arizona’s first lieutenant governor candidates’ jobs are clearer before the election — to make the name above theirs on the ballot more electable — than they are after it.
For Hobbs, former Mesa Mayor John Giles — a lifelong Republican but recently converted independent — reinforces her appeal to moderates.
Biggs’ chosen heir, Buckeye dairy farmer and former Republican Sen. Sine Kerr, will help lock in the rural vote.
But helping their running mates win an election isn’t the job lawmakers had in mind when they created the lieutenant governor position.
The job description
Until now, Arizona relied on its secretary of state to take over if the governor left office.
After voters approved a ballot measure creating the second-in-command position in 2022, Arizona now joins most other states in electing its governor and lieutenant governor together on a joint ticket, much like a vice president.
But before Arizona voters finally accepted the lieutenant governor’s office four years ago, they rejected the idea at the ballot box twice, in 1994 and 2010.
To get it right the third time, lawmakers spelled out the jobs the lieutenant governor could have:
The governor’s chief of staff
The head of the Arizona Department of Administration
Any other position the governor has the authority to appoint
That last option leaves open plenty of possibilities. The governor appoints leaders across dozens of state agencies, from Arizona’s Medicaid system to its lottery.
But to get the lieutenant governor’s office across the finish line, Republican Sen. JD Mesnard had to make concessions.
Mesnard spent nearly a decade at the Capitol trying to put the lieutenant governor question before voters, finally succeeding on his sixth attempt in 2022. He originally envisioned the lieutenant governor as head of the Arizona Department of Administration.
The department does a lot of behind-the-scenes work to keep state government running, so some lawmakers questioned handing such an important agency to a politician who might lack the qualifications to run it.
Others worried the lieutenant governor’s office would add unnecessary bureaucracy.
“When I first started out, and for much of the process, (the lieutenant governor’s role) was a little more defined, perhaps, than it is at the moment,” Mesnard told us. “But we have what we have.”
Mesnard worked with former Democratic Sen. Sean Bowie to broaden the lieutenant governor’s possible jobs to include other gubernatorial appointments. The House later added chief of staff to the list.
Either way, the lieutenant governor would fill an existing position rather than further bloat state government.
But where exactly do you put a former mayor and a dairy-farming former state lawmaker in the machinery of state government?
Milk and municipal matters
When Biggs first announced Kerr as his running mate, the Republic reported that his campaign expected her to lead the Arizona Department of Agriculture.
Drew Sexton, Biggs campaign spokesperson, told us that’s not quite right — a mix-up that he acknowledged was “probably my fault.”
An agriculture-related job makes more sense for Kerr than, say, running the Department of Corrections, Sexton explained. But her role hasn’t been finalized.
“As Sine said, her official role has not been decided, but she will be hands-on in the legislative process,” Sexton said.
Working with the Legislature could fit nearly any state agency director, who would help advance legislation affecting their department. But the governor’s chief of staff, a role that entails coordinating the governor’s policy agenda and negotiating with lawmakers, would likely have the most direct legislative involvement.
Sexton wouldn’t confirm whether that’s the position Biggs has in mind for Kerr, either.
Giles, meanwhile, doesn’t fit quite as neatly into a single policy area as Kerr does into agriculture. And we didn’t hear back from Hobbs’ campaign.
In media interviews, the most specific Hobbs and Giles have gotten about his potential future role is touting the former mayor’s interests in education and economic development. Giles worked across all corners of municipal government during his decade as Mesa’s mayor, but perhaps most notably oversaw the redevelopment of downtown Mesa.
We don’t know of a “Classrooms and Commerce Office,” but we’ve heard through the rumor mill that Hobbs’ chief of staff, Chad Campbell, is on his way out, and there’s a shortlist to replace him. It’s unclear if Giles is in the running.
And whatever job Arizona’s first lieutenant governor ends up with, their role will likely set a precedent for everyone who follows.
“It hasn’t really been revisited even since the voters passed it. I think some of it was, well, let’s get somebody in there, and then you can make adjustments down the road,” Mesnard said. “Whoever the first one is, and the role they play, will create a bias for some people on what should or shouldn’t change in the future.”
Return to sender: Some Maricopa County voters say their early ballots never showed up, though county data suggests the problem isn’t widespread, Wayne Schutsky reports for KJZZ. The Recorder’s Office fielded 424 calls that could be tied to missing or replacement ballots. That’s roughly 0.02% of the nearly 2 million voters on the county’s mail-ballot list, and turnout is actually running ahead of 2022’s pace. USPS says it isn’t seeing any delays, but the affected voters span the political spectrum, including one woman who got a USPS Informed Delivery scan of her ballot envelope and never got the actual ballot.
“There are any number of factors that may impact the timeliness of a mailpiece. Postal employees take seriously their role in processing and transporting mail in a timely manner, and we work diligently to do so year-round,” Sherry Patterson, a USPS spokesperson, said in a statement to KJZZ.
It’s happeninggg: Election Day is creeping up, and voters across Arizona have until 5 p.m. today to request a ballot by mail. After that, the final major date of note is next Tuesday, October 27 — the recommended last day to mail back filled-out ballots before Election Day on November 3.
Twister in the pines: A likely tornado touched down in Heber-Overgaard Wednesday night, damaging homes, knocking out power and injuring at least one person, ABC15 reports. Republican Rep. Walt Blackman, whose district includes the Navajo County community, asked Gov. Katie Hobbs to declare a state of emergency, which he said would speed up state and potentially federal aid, Serena O’Sullivan reports for KTAR. Hobbs hasn’t declared one yet, but she said her administration is coordinating with the county on sheltering and has directed three state agencies to help with recovery. Heber-Overgaard was one of several spots under 11 tornado warnings issued across the state Wednesday.
Wide right: A super PAC pushing for stricter AI rules is spending $750,000 against Republican congressional hopeful Jay Feely in Congressional District 1, Sahara Sajjadi reports for the Copper Courier. Guardrails Alliance is targeting the former NFL kicker over his pro-data-center stance and the $600,000 boost he got from Leading the Future, an AI industry super PAC backed by tech heavyweights like venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. Feely says the U.S. has to beat China in the AI race, while Democrat Amish Shah says he’d oppose new data centers in the district, a position Feely has called hypocritical given Shah’s 2021 legislative vote to extend data center tax breaks.
Spooked at MCTEC: Maricopa County’s elections headquarters went into lockdown for about half an hour Wednesday after an election worker spotted “suspicious activity” in a nearby building, Jerod MacDonald-Evoy reports for the Mirror. Law enforcement found no threat, and the tabulation center was back to business by 1 p.m. — but the scare comes days after election officials across the country, including Arizona’s secretary of state, received envelopes containing white powder.
The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission is the state’s only official, nonpartisan voter education resource — created by Arizona voters for voters.
We publish the voter education guide, host the debates, and break down what’s on your ballot. Not who you should vote for — what you need to know before you do.
Get the facts at AZCleanElections.gov.
There’s something quintessentially Mark Kelly about the Republic’s headline from yesterday:
The heckler, Christopher Rendon, pressed the Democratic senator on why he accepted “Israel money” and called him a coward during an event with Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Rendon was escorted out of the event, but Kelly went out to the lobby to explain that he has called for more aid to Gaza and doesn’t take money from corporate PACs. The man was unconvinced by Kelly, but he added on TikTok that politicians talking to people directly is “what we freaking need” in politics.
Leave it to Kelly to have a man escorted out of the room so that he can speak to him one-on-one.