Democrat Katie Hobbs reportedly taps Republican John Giles as her Lt. Gov. running mate

Gov. Katie Hobbs is expected to name John Giles, a Republican and former mayor of Mesa, as her running mate, completing the Democratic ticket for Arizona’s November general election.

According to reporting by the New York Times, the cross-party pick will campaign alongside Hobbs as she seeks a second term against Republican nominee Andy Biggs and his running mate Sine Kerr.

If Hobbs wins, Giles would become Arizona’s first lieutenant governor.

Giles has been a prominent figure in Hobbs’s “Arizona Over Party” coalition, a group of dozens of Republicans and independents backing the governor’s reelection.

The pick is a deliberate nod to bipartisanship in a race that will pit Hobbs against Biggs, a member of the House Freedom Caucus who carries President Trump’s endorsement.

Hobbs won her first term in 2022 by less than a percentage point over Kari Lake, a victory built on support from moderate Republicans and independent voters who had broken with hard-line Republican nominees.

Giles, a longtime critic of Trump, endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024 and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, telling the audience he felt “more at home here than in today’s Republican Party,” as the Times reported.

Hobbs and Giles had discussed the lieutenant governor role as early as 2024, according to the Times, though Giles initially rebuffed the idea.

He grew more open to the pairing after moderate Republican Karrin Taylor Robson dropped out of the gubernatorial primary in February, leaving the more polarizing Biggs as the GOP nominee.

Giles will help define the office for Arizona voters and shape how future administrations use it.

Why is the lieutenant governor selection significant?

Arizona voters approved Proposition 131 in 2022, establishing the lieutenant governor’s office beginning with the 2026 election. This will be the first time candidates for Arizona governor and lieutenant governor appear together on the general election ballot.

Gubernatorial nominees must select their running mates at least 60 days before the general election.

The lieutenant governor will replace the secretary of state as the first person in the line of succession. The lieutenant governor would assume the governorship if the sitting governor dies, resigns, is removed from office or becomes permanently unable to perform the office’s duties.

Beyond that responsibility, the office remains loosely defined, giving the governor broad discretion over the lieutenant governor’s role. The person elected in November will therefore help establish how the office operates in Arizona.

Biggs selected Kerr as his running mate on July 31. A former Arizona lawmaker and dairy farmer, Kerr was appointed by the Trump administration as state executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency in May 2025.

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