By Matthew Holloway |

An investigative report released last week revealed that Arizona’s Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs accepted a campaign donation from Pin Ni, a Chinese Communist Party member and board director at major automotive parts maker Wanxiang Group.

According to the report, the donation appears to have been made after Hobbs vetoed one piece of legislation that would have pushed Chinese influence out of Arizona’s prominent healthcare and research base and another piece of legilslation that would have banned the Chinese Government from owning land in the state.

Michael Lucci, founder of State Armor, a national security group, told the Washington Examiner in a statement Tuesday, “State Armor respectfully calls upon Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to partner with the Arizona legislature to oppose America’s adversaries instead of opposing the legislature’s attempts to protect Arizona from Communist China.”

He added, “In the last two years, Governor Hobbs has vetoed more legislation to protect her state from the CCP than any other governor in the country, including common-sense legislation to protect Arizona land and Arizonan genetic information from China’s military. So it is disappointing but not shocking to see Gov. Hobbs takes political money from CCP-tied billionaires.”

As previously reported by AZ Free News, Hobbs has already fallen under heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers following her veto of HB 2542, which would have blocked corporations with ties to the People’s Republic of China from securing contracts with the State of Arizona. She also vetoed SB 1109, a bill that would have specifically targeted Chinese purchases of land in Arizona, but approved Senate Bill 1082, which applied restrictions on land purchases to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Lucci urged Hobbs to return the funds and enact further legislation to protect Arizona from Beijing’s influence writing, “No amount of political contributions is worth selling out the great state of Arizona to the CCP. Governor Hobbs should send the CCP-tied money back to its source and instead enact a range of executive orders and legislative solutions to protect our state from America’s enemies.”

The timing of the allegations against Hobbs, coupled with the entry of a third Republican, Congressman David Schweikert, into the 2026 gubernatorial race could prove a serious challenge for the already embattled Democrat.

Recent polling shows Congressman Andy Biggs as the clear frontrunner in the Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary over Schweikert and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson.

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.