From the Daily Kos Morning Digest today:
Hobb’s victory is critical for voting rights in what’s likely to be a pivotal 2020 swing state because of her firm advocacy for pro-voting policies such as automatic voter registration and making sure eligible voters stay on the voter rolls. By contrast, Gaynor had called for repealing key Voting Rights Act protections for language minorities.
With Hobbs taking over from Republican Secretary of State Michele Reagan, she’ll finally be able to bring Arizona into compliance with the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, commonly called the “motor voter” law, by automatically updating Arizonans’ existing voter registrations when they move and update their information with the state Department of Transportation. Reagan had fought a lawsuit over her failure to do so for hundreds of thousands of registered voters, but Hobbs can remedy that situation via administrative action.
Since Arizona has no lieutenant governor, Hobbs would also be first in line to assume the governor’s office if Republican Gov. Doug Ducey were to leave office before his final term ends in 2022. Four of the last nine people to hold the governor’s office were secretaries of state filling gubernatorial vacancies, and Hobbs being positioned to do so if a vacancy arose could deter Ducey from running for the Senate special election in 2020, although there’s no public indication whether he has even been interested in it.
Read more:
Katie Hobbs beats Steve Gaynor, AZCentral.com
Opinion: Katie Hobbs as Secretary of State, Abe Kwok, Arizona Republic
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