Key Points:

• Gov. Katie Hobbs will send eight director nominations to the Senate in 2026

• Her nominations have been held up by the Senate Director Nominations Committee since 2023

• Sen. Jake Hoffman and Senate Republicans have forced Hobbs to choose new appointees

Gov. Katie Hobbs will enter her fourth and final legislative session of her first term in office without Senate-confirmed directors at eight state agencies, setting up another round of confirmation battles that have become a fixture in an era of divided state government. 

Eight nominees are expected to face the Senate Director Nominations Committee during the 2026 legislative session, seven of whom are the governor’s second choice for their respective positions. The nomination has dragged into 2026 due to strategic maneuvering by Republicans, Hobbs’ decision to pull her nominations in 2023 and an ensuing court battle that ended in 2024 with a promise to restart hearings in 2025. 

Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, has served as chairman of the committee and arbiter of Hobbs’ nominations since the committee was created specifically for the governor after her election in 2022. He is known for raking nominees over the coals, questioning them over anything from years-old social media posts criticizing President Donald Trump to memberships of professional organizations that promote diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. 

The committee, known as DINO, also features Republican heavyweight Sens. T.J. Shope and John Kavanagh. The two occasionally vote with Democratic Sens. Analise Ortiz and Flavio Bravo to advance Hobbs’ nominees, even if Hoffman disapproves. 

Hoffman did not respond to an interview request for this story, and he has traditionally preferred to keep his plans for DINO close to his chest. He has also long argued that Hobbs has picked unqualified political allies as nominees to lead her state agencies, while Hobbs insists Hoffman is an obstructionist using his position to kneecap her initiatives. 

Hobbs has also said Hoffman’s hostility has made it difficult for her office to find replacements for directors who are forced out or rejected. But one political consultant, speaking on the condition of anonymity, noted that Hobbs’ staff has not always shown unwavering support for nominees facing contentious confirmation hearings.

“When (Dr. Theresa Cullen) got eviscerated at DINO, she walked to her car alone,” the consultant said. “… This woman just got f***ing torched, wrongly or rightly, she got torched and there was no one there to go, ‘Hey, you did fine, these people are just a**holes,’ whatever you say to someone who just got torched.”

Other consultants say Hoffman’s antics, which are often characterized as a move to stunt the governor’s chances of reelection, won’t break through to the average voter in November. Others believe it could be an asset for Hobbs, if she plays her cards right.

“She should be making a case about that with a wider (audience),” said Chuck Coughlin, the CEO of consulting firm HighGround. “I would expect her to talk about it in the state of the state. That would be a good thing to talk about state of state, ‘I’m going into my last year in office, and I still don’t have any confirmation of a director for this department.’”

The uphill battles

Of the eight nominees awaiting confirmation, only one has already received a hearing and a recommendation to the full Senate: Karen Peters at the Department of Environmental Quality.

That doesn’t mean Peters can expect to be confirmed, however. Her nomination, which is set to expire in February, did not make it to a vote before the 2025 session ended in late June, with Hoffman telling the Arizona Capitol Times in July that it was unclear whether or not Peters had the votes to be confirmed. 

Hoffman was the lone no vote on Peters’ nomination during her confirmation hearing and credited “industry lobbyists” for swaying other members of the Republican caucus in her favor. 

Virginia “Ginny” Rountree is Hobbs’ second pick to lead the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, after Carmen Heredia resigned when Hoffman accused her of mishandling the aftermath of the sober living homes scandal. Over $2 billion in state Medicaid funds were distributed to fraudulent providers, and Hobbs’ administration has been accused of overcorrecting and cracking down on legitimate providers. 

Rountree was nominated to her position in September 2025 and has already appeared before lawmakers in committee to discuss the sober living homes scandal. While not at AHCCCS during the fraud, Rountree previously worked at the agency between 2014 and 2019 and also held a leadership position at the Department of Economic Security. 

Another nominee likely to face scrutiny is Ruby Dhillon-Williams at the Department of Housing. Her predecessor and former boss, Joan Serviss, was rejected by both DINO and the full Senate after Republicans accused her of plagiarism in her former roles. 

ADOH is also under scrutiny after its most recent sunset audit, which found the department inadvertently wired $2 million to fraudsters claiming to be affordable housing developers. ADOH’s statutory life was only extended by one year, giving the Legislature more oversight of its operations. 

The newbies

Debbie Johnston at the Department of Health Services is Hobbs’ newest director nominee, having been tapped for the job in November 2025. Johnston is the former executive vice president of the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association and is Hobbs’ third pick to lead ADHS.

Hobbs’ previous ADHS nominees, Dr. Theresa Cullen and Jennie Cunico, were rejected by Hoffman and Senate Republicans for their views on and actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Will Humble, the director of ADHS under former Govs. Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey, said he doesn’t foresee Johnston facing the same scrutiny.

“I think she’s actually quite confirmable, with her personality, her track record, where she is in her career, her lack of social media presence,” Humble said. “And she’s not a hot head. She does her homework.” 

John Conley, Hobbs’ nominee for the adjutant general and director of the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, is also expected to do well before the DINO committee. He was appointed in June to replace former Adjutant General Kerry Muehlenbeck, who left the job to return to teaching at Mesa Community College. 

Conley, who previously served as director of administrative services at DEMA before being promoted, has been welcomed to his role by Arizona Republicans like U.S. Reps. Juan Ciscomani and Abe Hamadeh. Hobbs told reporters after his appointment that she believes Conley is a bipartisan pick. 

Hobbs’ nominee for the Office of Economic Opportunity, Mary Foote, was also recently selected for her role to replace an outgoing director. Carlos Contreras, the governor’s first choice, saw his nomination expire in August 2025 after it was rejected by DINO. 

Foote joined OEO in February 2024, serving as the director of the Greater Arizona Development Authority before moving into the director position.

The question marks

The Office of Tourism has been led by Alix Skelpsa Ridgway since Hobbs’ original nominee, Lisa Urias, resigned from the position in late 2024 following accusations of a conflict of interest in a contract for a new state logo. Skelpsa Ridgway’s nomination was not transmitted to the Senate until June 2025, near the end of the legislative session, and she has not yet faced the DINO committee.

Republicans lambasted Hobbs and Urias over the new state logo, which cost $700,000 and was designed by the brother of the CEO of a communications firm founded by Urias. The logo is likely to come up in Skelpsa Ridgway’s confirmation hearing, as she was serving as deputy director of the Tourism Office at the time. 

Maria Ailor is serving as the interim director of the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions after DINO and the full Senate rejected Barbara Richardson during the 2025 session. Ailor moved into the director position after serving as assistant director of DIFI’s market regulation and consumer services division.

 It is unclear whether Ailor will be Hobbs’ official nominee for the role, as many interim directors appointed in 2025 returned to their previous agency roles after the governor tapped a permanent nominee.