Republican Mesa Mayor endorses Democrat Katie Hobbs in gubernatorial race

PHOENIX — It’s not often a Republican mayor has gone across the aisle to support a Democrat, but that’s exactly what Mesa’s John Giles has done in the Arizona gubernatorial race.

Giles, elected mayor of Arizona’s third largest city in 2014, is backing Katie Hobbs over Republican Kari Lake.

“It’s pretty clear to me that Katie Hobbs is a better candidate,” Giles told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad Tuesday. “… Katie Hobbs is more qualified, she’s focused on the issues. I think its clear from the mayor’s seat that Arizona has a lot of serious issues that we need to address.”

“It’s not a mystery, one candidate is better than the other.”

Giles called Lake “dangerous” for the state of Arizona and the Republican party.

Although Giles has given his support to Hobbs, he has not had any run-ins with Lake.

“I have no personal axe to grind with miss (Kari) Lake. I think in a lot of ways, as a communicator, she’s in a league of her own,” Giles said.

“If there were a Republican that was not an election denier, that I aligned with on all the issues, I would be thrilled. Show me a Republican who is not an election denier and I will endorse them.”

Giles explained he is also endorsing Mark Kelly against Blake Masters and Adrian Fontes over Mark Finchem in their respective races as well. He did state he was supporting Republican Rachel Mitchell for County Attorney.

The Mesa Mayor said that some of the candidates are so focused on the election, he doesn’t know if they are aware of the real issues at hand in Arizona.

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