Lieutenant governor candidates debate role of Arizona’s newest office

Two candidates seeking to become Arizona’s first lieutenant governor debated Monday, offering different visions for an office voters created but no one has yet held.

Republican Sine Kerr, running mate of gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, and No Labels candidate Angela Harrolle Mohan both said the role’s main job is succession.

Neither committed to a specific portfolio.

Kerr, a former state senator who voted to send the lieutenant governor measure to voters, said the office was meant to provide continuity if a governor leaves office.

“It is important to the voters who elected the governor that we have … that continuity and ideology,” Kerr said. “We won’t announce my specific position until after the election.”

Harrolle Mohan, a former federal special agent who has never held elected office, said she would be ready to serve as chief of staff but wanted to assess the administration’s needs first.

She said she and her running mate do not always agree.

“We don’t need to be mirror images of each other, and nor do we need to be an echo chamber,” Harrolle Mohan said.

The lieutenant governor candidates also split on data centers

Harrolle Mohan backed a temporary moratorium on new large-scale applications. Kerr said data centers should get no state subsidies and must supply their own water and power.

John Giles, Gov. Katie Hobbs’ running mate, declined to participate, and candidate Lisa Castillo did not respond to the invitation.

Notably absent from the debate stage, the incumbent party

“It’s an absolute disgrace that Governor Hobbs and John Giles will not participate in this debate,” Kerr said in her closing statement.

Biggs has made Hobbs’ decision to skip debates a point of mockery, with help from Scottsdale resident and “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Rob Schneider.

Hobbs campaign manager Nicole DeMont said in a statement after the debate that Kerr “shared a stage with a field of long-shot candidates for a job she will never hold.”

DeMont said Hobbs and Giles would keep traveling the state to meet directly with voters.

The gubernatorial debate is scheduled for Tuesday night, when Biggs will share the stage with Risa Lombardo and Teri Hourihan, Harrolle Mohan’s running mate.

The general election is Nov. 3.

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