PHOENIX, AZ –Democrat nominee for governor in Arizona, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, finds herself amid another race controversy as she was a “student leader” during her high school days “when pupils took part in a yearly tradition known as ‘Slave Day,’” according to a report Monday.
Breitbart News reached out to multiple members of the “Republicans for Katie Hobbs” coalition, who stumped for Hobbs in Paradise Valley Sunday, to see if they still support Hobbs, but only one responded to a comment request. Former Scottsdale Mayor Sam Campana reaffirmed her support for the Democrat in the wake of the Daily Mail’s shocking report. On Monday, the outlet reported that Hobbs was a member of the student council at Seton Catholic Preparatory High School, where “Slave Day” was an annual tradition:
One example from the 1985 yearbook, which would have been the end of Hobbs’ freshman year, describes “slaves” in her grade “wearing unbecoming hairdoes and unbecoming outfits, sporting embarrassing signs and performing embarrassing acts of servitude for senior masters for a day.”
It’s not clear if Hobbs participated herself in the “auctions,” but her 1987 Student Council page credits her and the other student leaders for having “coordinated the many class events during Spirit Week” – when Slave Day appears to have been celebrated.
A 1986 yearbook shows one photo of a girl seemingly sporting black paint on her face while participating in “Slave Day,” and members of the senior class were subjects of auctions, per the Mail. Hobbs’s team ignored three comment requests from the publication.
Lake, who attended a dueling rally held by former President Donald J. Trump on Sunday in Mesa, pointed out in a statement Monday that Hobbs is a “twice convicted racist” stemming from the Talonya Adams lawsuit. Adams was an employee of Hobbs in the state Senate and successfully sued the legislative body for racial and sexual discrimination that Adams says Hobbs is responsible for.
Lake said:
Katie Hobbs’ record of racism, which already cost Arizona taxpayers $2.75 million after she was twice convicted of racist behavior, goes back to high school. The same Katie Hobbs who paid a woman-of-color $30,000 less than her white male counterparts also thought it appropriate to get involved in a cringe-inducing, racist ‘Slave Day’ and disgustingly celebrated it in her yearbook. And just last week, when Hobbs was asked in a forum to name one positive thing about the Latino community, she could not come up with an answer. This is a clear disappointing and alarming pattern, but this latest bombshell is beyond the pale. Silence and hiding won’t cut it on this one. Katie Hobbs owes it to every Arizonan to come out of hiding and finally take accountability for her troubling record of racism – and if Katie Hobbs won’t come out of hiding to explain herself, then the media owes it to the people of Arizona to find her.
Republican Mesa Mayor John Giles, media consultant Karie Dozer, and former Campana were among the members of the “Republicans for Katie Hobbs” coalition at her event Sunday. Giles and Dozer did not respond to Breitbart News’s inquiry asking if they still support Hobbs in light of the Daily Mail story, but Campana did.
“Yes, I do fully support Sevretary [sic] Hobbs. Although I’ve not seen the story, my two daughters went to probably the same girls college prep school,” wrote Campana in a statement.
“It was an unfortunate choice for the school; I’m Catholic and am now immersed in the clergy/Native American issue. We have a sad history as both Catholics and Americans,” she added. “As a registered Republican, I now know better and do better. So does Katie Hobbs. She’ll be a great and sensitive Governor.”
“Those of us who support Secretary Hobbs care very deeply about the future of Arizona,” said Giles Sunday, as the Arizona Republic reported. “And that’s why we are putting our state above our party.”
Hobbs refuses to debate Lake and caught heat last week for struggling to name one thing she has learned from Arizona’s Latino community.
