Marco López and Aaron Lieberman each raised over $1 million. Do Arizona Democrats still believe Katie Hobbs is the only choice?

Elvia Díaz
Arizona Republic

Let’s just say more than $2 million isn’t pocket change.

That’s how much money Marco López and Aaron Lieberman said they raised in 2021 in their Democratic bid to replace outgoing Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.

López, the former mayor of Nogales and Obama administration official, was first to announce on Monday that he raised more than $1 million, most of it from people who donated $25 or less. Lieberman, a former state representative, boasted collecting $1.1 million.

That’s impressive, especially considering the Democratic establishment has practically crowned Secretary of State Katie Hobbs as its gal.

Hobbs, who has been milking the ridiculous Republican-led sham audit to gain national notoriety, bragged about raising $1 million back in June.

You’d think her fundraising would be off the charts, which might still be the case.

But it is kind of odd that she isn’t tripping over her Democratic rivals in telling the public how much money she raised through the end of the year. 

Candidates have until Jan. 15 to file fundraising reports. Notably, those doing well usually get ahead of the game, as López and Lieberman just did.

Either way, Hobbs is in trouble and Democrats know it. Most of them, though, are just burying their heads in the sand pretending she still is the only one who can be governor.

Hobbs took a hit over a multi-million-dollar racial and gender discrimination federal lawsuit from Black lawyer and former Senate staffer Talonya Adams.

Hobbs has done poorly handling the case. But what’s important is the fact that the discrimination did happen in the first place – two federal juries concurred.

Even if Hobbs turned out to be a formidable fundraiser in 2021, the more than $2 million that went to López and Lieberman isn’t pocket change.

That money represents a lot of Arizonans who clearly believe Hobbs won’t cut it.

Do Democratic leaders who remain silent over Hobbs' discrimination jury verdicts still believe she can or should be governor of this diverse border state?

Do they still believe López and Lieberman aren’t viable candidates despite their impressive fundraising abilities?

If the answer is yes to those questions, then Democrats deserve to lose the governorship.

Yes, I really mean that. Some of us are just fed up with the Democratic Party paying lip service over issues important to people of color or those who simply believe in a just society.

If the Arizona Democratic Party truly believes Hobbs is the only viable gubernatorial contender then it has done a miserable job grooming Arizonans for that position.

López and Lieberman just proved they can be competitive fundraisers – an important step toward viable candidacies.

In contrast, the last Democratic nominee for Arizona governor, David García, had merely raised $846,104 by summer of the 2018 election year against Ducey. And we know how that ended for García. 

Four year earlier, Democrat Fred DuVal had faced similar fundraising predicament, losing to Ducey. 

Now is different. A lot of people are shelling out tons of money to the Democrats.

And those particularly donating to López and Lieberman's respective campaigns clearly believe Hobbs won’t cut it.

Will Democratic leaders pay attention to that or continue to pretend things are still OK with Hobbs? 

Elvia Díaz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1

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