After vetoing a record 143 bills in 2023 — her first year in office — Gov. Katie Hobbs killed half that number a year later.
This year, the Democratic governor is again vetoing bills at a near-record pace — a sign of the ever-shifting dynamics and electoral politics that shape the relationship between Hobbs and the Republican-led Legislature.
As of June 4, Hobbs has vetoed 138 bills. She could surpass the record she set in 2023 by the time the Legislature adjourns — the session is expected to end later this month.
Hobbs said Republican lawmakers are to blame for sky-high veto totals this year.
“You'll have to ask the Republicans why they keep sending me the same bills that I've already vetoed,” she said.
It’s true that dozens of bills Hobbs vetoed this year are similar to legislation she axed earlier in her tenure, from controversial changes to state election law to policies dealing with trans students that advocates say would be harmful to their community.
Republican Senate President Warren Petersen chalks that up to the fact that the Arizona Legislature is in its first session since the 2024 election. There are plenty of new lawmakers who weren’t around the last time Hobbs vetoed those bills, he said.
“So the first year people try things, she's going to have more vetoes,” he said, predicting Hobbs veto numbers will drop back down next year during the Legislature’s second session.
He said Republicans may send similar bills to Hobbs with changes designed to broach a compromise.
“They don't want to put, you know, go through effort on something they know is going to be vetoed, or they'll try to amend it in a way that it doesn't get vetoed,” Petersen said.
But many of the bills Hobbs vetoed this year were sponsored by longtime lawmakers who have repeatedly sent her the proposals they know she opposes. That includes Sen. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) who continues to send bills dealing with trans students to the governor’s desk.
Sam Richard, a Democratic lobbyist, said that, outside of a few exceptions, most of Hobbs' vetoes haven’t been all that surprising.
“I think you can probably even look back to committee testimony and vote explanations where people acknowledge, ‘I'm going to vote for this, but I know that the governor is going to veto this, or why are we even hearing this bill in committee? You know the governor is going to veto this, right?’” he said.
And seasoned Capitol watchers aren’t so sure that the governor will veto less bills next year due to the fact that Hobbs — and lawmakers from both parties — will be seeking re-election in 2026.
“When it comes to deciding how you’re going to vote in the Legislature or what bill you’re going to sign as governor there are the actual facts and then there are the political facts, and they both are important in terms of determining an outcome and it would be silly to act like they don’t exist but they do,” former GOP lawmaker and lobbyist Stan Barnes said.
He said that’s true for Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor.
“It works both ways,” Barnes said. “The governor and Democratic allies would like to overthrow the Republican majority. It’s not a secret. And the Republican majority in the Legislature would like to return a Republican to the governor’s chair. Everyone is playing their part.”
Richard agreed, saying politics undoubtedly plays a role when the governor is considering contentious bills. That includes her decision to sign legislation requiring pornographic websites to verify a person’s age even though she vetoed a similar bill last year.
Hobbs signed the bill despite opposition from many Democrats due to concerns it violates the First Amendment.
“And I'm not sure that there is a palatable electoral explanation for vetoing that,” Richard said. “I personally agree with some of the First Amendment concerns, but that is a very, very hard argument to make when the number one kind of demographic that you're looking for to continue supporting you is suburban young families, right?”
Hobbs told reporters she changed her mind after hearing from Arizona parents.
Petersen also said he believes the governor has politics on her mind when she’s deciding which bills to sign.
“She's obviously thinking about her election every time she does something,” Petersen said.
But Hobbs wouldn’t say whether she thinks politics is playing a role in which bills Republicans are sending her way. And she said she remains committed to working with GOP legislators to address issues important to Arizonans, like housing affordability, border security and water policy.
“I've done that. I'll continue to do that, and I will also continue to be a backstop against bills that strip away Arizona's freedoms, that don't solve problems and that are just flat out extreme,” Hobbs said.
Republicans like Petersen say otherwise. He pointed to an immigration enforcement bill he sponsored this year. He said the bill went through several iterations to address critics’ concerns before it reached Hobbs desk.
“So I thought that for sure she would, she would sign that based off of, you're really just making sure you're dealing with people who've committed crimes,” Petersen said.
That bill would have prevented state agencies and local governments from adopting policies banning cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Hobbs, who has said was willing to work with Republicans on border security issues, vetoed the bill after repeatedly saying she was opposed to forcing local law enforcement “to do things with limited resources and unfunded mandates.”
“I will continue to work with the federal government on true border security, but we should not force state and local officials to take marching orders from Washington, D.C.,” she wrote in a veto letter.
Richard, the Democratic lobbyist, said it's the vetoes on those big, divisive issues that catch voters’ attention. He says those Arizonans are less concerned with the sheer number of times Hobbs kills legislation, because they understand that this is what they voted for when they elected a Democratic governor and Republican-majority Legislature.
“Because you really don't see her level of vetoes being a hugely positive thing in polling or a hugely negative thing in polling,” Richard said. “And I think that what maybe some plugged in voters have understood is that is just a function of divided government.”
So, who benefits most from the veto battle between Hobbs and Republicans?
Barnes, the Republican former lawmaker, said both Republicans and Democrats are hopeful the governor’s vetoes play a role in convincing swing voters to pick their side in what is expected to be a very close gubernatorial election next year.
“I think both parties are secretly happy with the governor setting a record for number of vetoes,” he said.
