Jake Hoffman

PLEEEEEAAAASE, MOM: Republican Rep. Selina Bliss’ bill to create a monument honoring murdered journalist Don Bolles (sans the Charlie Kirk add-on that Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman wants) passed the House Government Committee with unanimous support yesterday. That means there are two versions of the bill moving through the Legislature: a good bill that everyone likes, and a shitty version that Democrats and even members of Bolles’ family don’t want. “This bill feels like when my 11-year-old, my baby, just asks me for something over and over and over, and after many ‘no’s’ I say ‘fine,’” Republican Rep. Rachel Keshel told her colleagues. (February 19, 2026)

DINO-sore spot: The state Senate’s Director Nominations Committee was back in action this week, this time with Republican senators grilling Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ nominee to lead the Arizona National Guard for hours, KJZZ’s Camryn Sanchez reports. Republican Sens. Wendy Rogers and Jake Hoffman accused John Conley of being “quibblistic” and “lawyerly” as Conley fielded questions about the U.S. war on Iran, vaccine mandates in the military and whether the National Guard should support ICE. The committee ended up advancing Hobbs’ nomination, but only after Senate Democrats objected to the contentious lines of the questioning, per the Arizona Mirror’s Caitlin Sievers. “There’s a difference between vetting and being disrespectful jerks, and they were disrespectful jerks,” Sen. Analise Ortiz said. (May 13, 2026)

What will Hobbs do?: Arizona Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman picked up where Tucson-area Rep. Rachel Keshel left off, the Arizona Mirror’s Caitlin Sievers reports. Keshel has tried to ban voting centers, in favor of precinct-only voting, for the past three years and now Hoffman’s SB1746 has made it through the Senate. And an Arizona House committee moved along a bill that would require local police to alert ICE whenever they arrest someone who is undocumented, per Joe Duhownik of Courthouse News Service. (March 11, 2026)

Beg your pardon: President Donald Trump issued pardons for more than 75 fake electors and their allies over the weekend, the Washington Post reports, including Arizona fake electors Turning Point COO Tyler Bowyer, state Sen. Jake Hoffman, former AZGOP Chair Kelli Ward and her husband Michael Ward. None faced federal charges and the president can’t pardon for state-level charges, so it’s not exactly clear what the pardons do. (November 11, 2025)

Bills on the move: Arizona’s legislative pipeline is pumping out bills again, including one to stop HOAs from banning large dogs, per Capitol scribe Howie Fischer. GOP Sen. Jake Hoffman chairs the Senate Government Committee and refused to hear the bill, but Republican Sen. Kevin Payne tacked it onto another bill to get around Hoffman. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Matt Gress is trying to find a workaround for his plan to protect historic homes, after his bill died in the Senate, Jakob Thorington reports for the Capitol Times. And Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill from Senate President Warren Petersen that requires cities and towns to set time frames to speed up issuing licenses or building permits. (June 8, 2026)

Bock bock bock: Hobbs is still sending nominees to the Senate committee led by Freedom Caucus leader Jake Hoffman, who has been trashing and rejecting her nominees — even though she threatened to ignore a court ruling and stop sending them to that committee, the Republic’s Stacey Barchenger writes. Up for a confirmation hearing today: Hobbs’ pick to lead the Department of Environmental Quality, Karen Peters. Hobbs also recently forwarded her pick to lead the Arizona National Guard, John Conley. “Hobbs' spokesperson Christian Slater did not answer questions about why Hobbs changed course and decided to send Conley's name for consideration,” Barchenger writes. (June 18, 2025)

The GOP’s Civil War: Republican Rep. Ralph Heap is launching a bid for the Corporation Commission, the Republic’s Sasha Hupka reports. Republican Rep. David Marshall is also expected to run for the utility-regulating board, and the far-right duo plans to challenge slightly more centrist GOP incumbents Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers — who haven’t resisted environmental and diversity efforts as much as the far-right would like. Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman is holding a press conference today to announce the new candidates. State Treasurer Kimberly Yee already announced she’s challenging Tom Horne for Superintendent of Public Instruction and got the Hoffman-backed press conference treatment two weeks ago. While the Freedom Caucus’ battles have been mostly focused against fellow Republicans in the primary, it is also coming up with challengers for the Democratic governor, secretary of state and attorney general. (June 10, 2025)

Hear Yee, Hear Yee: Formerly a beacon of hope for traditional Republicans, Kimberly Yee has realigned herself with the MAGA movement in her bid to become the next school superintendent, Substacker Robert Robb writes. He says Yee’s quick boarding of the MAGA train — and joining Arizona Sen. Jake Hoffman’s beef against current school superintendent Tom Horne — proves she will do anything for another political advancement. “(S)ince pursuing elected office, she has generally struck me as a politician on the make, willing to ride whatever political currents will get her to her next destination,” Robb writes. (June 3, 2025)

Make Utilities Great Again: Republican Reps. David Marshall and Ralph Heap announced they’re running for the Corporation Commission at a press conference alongside Freedom Caucus Chair Sen. Jake Hoffman, which seems to be a new trend. Hoffman is gathering far-right Republicans to challenge further-center ones in next year’s primaries, the Capitol Times’ Reagan Priest reports. Neither Marshall nor Heap has utility-specific experience, but they say current commissioners Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers aren’t doing enough to push the Trump agenda. (June 11, 2025)

Hands off the cybertrucks: Far-right Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman successfully championed getting a measure on the 2026 ballot that bars state and local governments from imposing taxes “based on the vehicle miles traveled,” and it could hinder future road projects, Fischer reports. Electric car drivers don’t pay the 18-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax that goes toward road maintenance, but Hoffman (who drives a Tesla Cybertruck) said, “The ability to tax is the ability to control by force.” (July 14, 2025)

Go back to Plan A: Republican Rep. Quang Nguyen held a press conference to announce his plans in the upcoming legislative session to let chronic speeders keep their driving privileges if they install a speed-governing device, per the Republic’s Ray Stern. The companies that make the governing devices are stoked. Last year, Nguyen filed a bill to eliminate “legislative privilege” from speeding tickets after his seatmate, Sen. Mark Finchem, and Freedom Caucus leader Sen. Jake Hoffman both got out of speeding tickets thanks to legislative privilege. (October 29, 2025)

Finder’s fee: Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman’s political communications firm has made more than $200,000 from statewide candidates he recruited to run, Axios’ Zach Buchanan reports. So far, Hoffman’s Forged Communications firm received $121,000 from the campaigns of Republican superintendent of public instruction candidate Kimberly Yee and $90,000 from Republican secretary of state candidate Alexander Kolodin. Hoffman said the contenders are “the most qualified candidates in their respective races” and accused Axios of “cooking up wild conspiracy theories about phantom conflicts of interest.” (August 27, 2026)

Bills on the move: Arizona’s legislative pipeline is pumping out bills again, including one to stop HOAs from banning large dogs, per Capitol scribe Howie Fischer. GOP Sen. Jake Hoffman chairs the Senate Government Committee and refused to hear the bill, but Republican Sen. Kevin Payne tacked it onto another bill to get around Hoffman. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Matt Gress is trying to find a workaround for his plan to protect historic homes, after his bill died in the Senate, Jakob Thorington reports for the Capitol Times. And Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill from Senate President Warren Petersen that requires cities and towns to set time frames to speed up issuing licenses or building permits. (June 8, 2026)

Torched and standing alone: Heading into her final year as governor, Gov. Katie Hobbs still has eight unconfirmed agency directors, thanks in large part to Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman, who chairs the committee in charge of vetting her cabinet picks, Reagan Priest reports for the Capitol Times. Of the eight unconfirmed directors that will likely face confirmation hearings this year, seven are the governor’s second choice for their respective positions. But one consultant noted that Hobbs hasn’t exactly stood up for her nominees as they stared down Hoffman’s committee. “When (Dr. Theresa Cullen) got eviscerated at (the committee hearing), she walked to her car alone,” the consultant told the Capitol Times. “… 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.” (January 8, 2026)

Welcome back to budget season: Arizona’s Democratic governor and GOP legislative leaders struck an amicable tone as they started negotiating the state budget. Just kidding. It’s the same slugfest as last year. Gov. Katie Hobbs is fed up and said she won’t negotiate on the budget until GOP leaders like Senate President Warren Petersen publicly release their own budget plan, Caitlin Sievers reports for the Arizona Mirror. Petersen and House Speaker Steve Montenegro accused Hobbs of throwing a “temper tantrum,” while Hobbs said Republicans were “unserious.” A big sticking point is Prop 123, a decade-old, voter-approved measure that helps fund public schools. Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman said if Republicans support Hobbs’ plan for Prop 123, they’d essentially be “underwriting the Hobbs’ re-election campaign.” (March 23, 2026)

Citizens, not residents: State Sen. Jake Hoffman says state officials should take over the counting for the decennial census, at an estimated cost of $158 million, Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports. He wants to get a measure on the 2026 ballot for voters to decide whether non-citizens should be included in the count, even though the census is meant to include all residents, not just citizens. Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan called it “gerrymandering,” while Sen. Lauren Kuby, also a Democrat, said officials knocking on doors and asking if people are citizens could have a “chilling” effect on people responding to the census. (February 19, 2025)