Katie Hobbs' Gubernatorial Campaign Office Burglarized in Final Days of Tight Arizona Election

Mar. 15, 2025

Katie Hobbs.Photo: Mario Tama/Getty

The Phoenix campaign office of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs, who currently serves as Arizona’s secretary of state, was burglarized this week, with both the Phoenix police and a campaign official confirming the news Wednesday evening.

The Arizona Republicreports that Phoenix police released a statement about the break-in, noting that, “items were taken from the property sometime during the night.”

At the time the police said it remained an “active investigation with detectives checking all security cameras in attempts to identify and locate the subject involved.” By Thursday afternoon, news broke that police had made an arrest in the burglary, though the identity of the person arrested was not immediately released, said FOX 10 reporter Marissa Sarbak.

“Earlier this week, a break-in occurred at our campaign headquarters. We continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate, and we are thankful to the men and women of the Phoenix Police Department for their work to keep us safe,” the statement read.

The statement continued: “Secretary Hobbs and her staff have faced hundreds of death threats and threats of violence over the course of this campaign. Throughout this race, we have been clear that the safety of our staff and of the Secretary is our number one priority.”

It is unclear whether the burglary was politically motivated, but Sec. Hobbs has been open about the death threats she has received since the 2020 election, which former PresidentDonald Trumplost but insisted had been “rigged” against him.

Despite Trump’s attempts to overturn the election, courts and state officials across the nation have found no overwhelming evidence of voter fraud. Still, many supporters of the former president have left officials messages saying they were being watched and their families could be harmed if they didn’t swing the election to benefit him.

Hobbs was among a group of election officials to deliver emotional testimonybefore a Senate committeelast October, detailing the often graphic death threats they received in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

In her testimony, Hobbs described how, as poll workers continued tabulated votes two weeks after the election, “armed protesters gathered outside my home and chanted, ‘Katie, come out and play. We are watching you.'”

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“I never expected that holding this office would result in far-right trolls threatening my children, threatening my husbands’ employment at a children’s hospital, or calling my office, saying I deserve to die or, ‘What is she wearing today? So she’ll be easy to get,'” Hobbs said.

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source: people.com