As I wrote on Saturday, there’s been a roadblock in the process for Arizona to hold gubernatorial debates for the general election, which would feature former reporter Kari Lake (endorsed by Donald Trump) and the state’s Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Hobbs’ campaign insisted that she would only agree to a town hall-type event, with each candidate appearing separately on stage. The Citizens Clean Election Commission responded that, no, the candidates would need to directly debate each other; Hobbs had a week’s time to huddle with Team Lake and find a solution.

The week hasn’t elapsed, but we just got the answer from Hobbs now. Arizonans will get no chance to see Lake and Hobbs debating face to face on the same stage before the midterms, according to Axios.

.@katiehobbs makes it official: she’s refusing to debate @KariLake.@AZCCEC gave her 7 days to work with Lake and Clean Elections staff on ground rules for a debate. Hobbs still declined. Voters will not get to see Lake and Hobbs face each other on a debate stage. pic.twitter.com/AJPUChCk1C

— Jeremy Duda (@jeremyduda) September 11, 2022

You can read the full statement here:

.@katiehobbs says no for the second and final time to a debate with @KariLake. How pathetic and weak. She refused to debate her Democratic opponent in the primary as well. Nobody this weak can lead a shift at McDonald’s let alone lead Arizona. pic.twitter.com/IHmAHyHgvw

— Garret Lewis (@GarretLewis) September 11, 2022

As reporter Jeremy Duda points out, this isn’t the only debate Hobbs ducked during the ’22 cycle. She didn’t even debate during the primary.

Hobbs also refused to debate @1marcolopez during the Democratic primary. So she won't take the debate stage once throughout the entire election cycle.

— Jeremy Duda (@jeremyduda) September 11, 2022

By the way, Arizona’s early, mail-in voting started on August 2, with in-person early voting starting on October 12. There are voters who made up their minds on the race long before now, so they won’t be able to factor this move by Hobbs into their decisions–which is a shame. Lake needs to mention this at every campaign stop from now to November 8, period.