Katie Hobb’s Campaign Office Burglarized Before Arizona Election

The Phoenix campaign office of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs, who currently serves as Arizona’s secretary of state, was burglarized this week.

The Phoenix police and a campaign official confirmed the break-in and robbery on Wednesday evening.

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

Phoenix authorities said, “An active investigation is still ongoing. Detectives are checking all security cameras in an attempt to identify and locate the subject involved.”

On Thursday afternoon, news broke that police had made an arrest in the burglary, though the identity of the person arrested was not immediately released.

Later, the Hobbs campaign released its own statement, along with stills from surveillance footage that showed a person it said had been identified as the suspect by the Phoenix Police Department. 

The statement read: “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. 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 has not been confirmed if the burglary was politically motivated, but Hobbs has been very vocal about receiving death threats since 2020.

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

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.

“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.