The first week at the Legislature saw both parties and two branches of government laying out their plans for the 2025 session. But it also saw Republicans lay out their plan to make Gov. Katie Hobbs a one-term governor. 

With a Freedom Caucus news conference, State of the State Address rebuttals and state agency sunset hearings, legislative Republicans had ample time to make the case against Hobbs’ reelection. And they’ve put forth the message they want voters to remember in 2026 – the Governor’s Office is “out of touch” with the major issues facing the state and how Arizonans want them to be addressed. 

Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, is the founding chairman of the Arizona Freedom Caucus and perhaps Hobbs’ most vocal critic in the Legislature. While other Republicans cited specific concerns like border security and affordability as their top priorities in 2025, Hoffman said he is focused on ousting Democrats next year.

“The single most important task that we will work on over the coming two years that will produce the greatest positive benefit for the people of Arizona possible is our efforts to fire Katie Hobbs, Kris Mayes and Adrian Fontes in the 2026 election,” Hoffman said at a Jan. 13 news conference. 

Hoffman was referring to the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, respectively.

On the other hand, in her State of the State Address, Hobbs seemed to ask lawmakers to focus on the current session rather than its broader implications. 

“For too long, politicians have been focused on the wrong things – chasing headlines, playing politics, and looking toward their next election or their next office rather than standing up for the people we represent,” Hobbs said during her Jan. 13 speech. 

Newly-elected House Speaker Steve Montenegro said he thought Hobbs’ speech did not do enough to address the issues Arizonans were most concerned about in the last election. 

“The governor spent millions of dollars trying to sell the same vision we’re hearing today, and the voters rejected it,” Montenegro said. “Not only rejected it, they increased Republican majorities. We made a commitment to Arizonans to focus on the areas where we have and we have to come through.”

Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Queen Creek, emphasized that point in a video rebuttal posted after the State of the State speech.

“Arizona families want real solutions that empower them to create their own American Dream,” Petersen said. “They don’t want the government handouts that the executive is proposing and they don’t want the government telling them how to live their lives.”

However, Montenegro painted a much more rosy picture than Hoffman about how the Legislature and Hobbs could work together on certain issues.

“There’s always room for bipartisanship,” he told reporters. “It’s going to depend on what we see the members bring forth and what the governor is wanting.”

Legislative Republicans and the Governor’s Office at least agree that affordability, border security and housing are big issues that need to be addressed this session. But how to address them is an entirely different question, and Republicans want to make sure they can take credit for the solutions. 

Hoffman said at the Jan. 13 news conference that many of those issues can actually be attributed to the Hobbs administration.

“Let me be very clear, the Arizona executive branch has made our state less safe, less affordable, less prosperous and less competitive on both the national and international stage,” Hoffman said.

Republicans had an early opportunity to score points against the Hobbs administration during sunset review hearings for several state agencies and boards that are set to expire this year. Throughout the first week of the session, Republicans questioned agency heads about the effectiveness of their departments but none did so as directly as Hoffman.

At a Jan. 10 Senate Government hearing on the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council, Hoffman took the chance to jab at the new state logo commissioned by the Hobbs administration and used in the agency’s presentation.

“Were you directed by anybody in the Governor’s Office to use this God-awful, $750,000 logo?” Hoffman asked.

The new state logo was part of a $700,000 rebranding effort undertaken by the Office of Tourism that was widely criticized by Republicans for its cost, especially after news reports of a conflict of interest that led to the resignation of the office’s director. 

Despite his talk of “firing” Hobbs, Hoffman did not offer up any ideas for Republican candidates to face off against her. Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson has all but announced her candidacy and received an endorsement from newly elected President Donald Trump, to Hoffman’s chagrin. 

In a post on X shortly after the Robson endorsement, Hoffman said “Arizona doesn’t want [Robson’s] open borders, pro-amnesty liberal policies.” But he did not answer questions from reporters about who he thinks should run instead. 

As the 2026 election cycle grows closer, Petersen said in the video rebuttal that Republicans will work with Hobbs to a point.

“We look forward to working with the governor where our priorities align with the majority of Arizonans,” Petersen said.