Hobbs Accused Of Kicking Black And Disabled Kids Off Elevator So She Could Cut The Line

Hobbs Accused Of Kicking Black And Disabled Kids Off Elevator So She Could Cut The Line

by | Dec 12, 2025 | News

By Staff Reporter |

Governor Katie Hobbs is being accused of kicking black and disabled adults and children off an elevator so she didn’t have to wait in line at a football game.

The alleged incident was said to have occurred at the Territorial Cup: the post-Thanksgiving Day football game between Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of Arizona (U of A). 

A local reverend and former political candidate, Jarrett Barton Maupin, Jr., accused Hobbs of forcing his group, which consisted of several handicap adults and disabled kids, off an elevator to the executive suites for the game. His group had waited in line for the elevator connecting to the suites. Maupin explained he had a delegation with him consisting of folks from the inner city who had never attended an ASU football game. 

According to Maupin in a post to X and a subsequent interview on “The Afternoon Addiction with Garrett Lewis,” the displaced group was given the reason of “executive privilege” for their removal.

Others of equal or greater elected importance were present, per Maupin, waiting in line for the elevator connecting the executive suites at the game. 

Here’s Maupin’s account of what occurred:

“Everyone was in line to leave. You had a U.S. Senator in there waiting in line behind us, you had the governor of the River Indian community, you had so many people there, congressmen, even people like Karrin Taylor Robson, candidates. Lots of what people might consider special people, but everyone waiting and understanding that there’s one elevator up to the suites and one elevator down. So we get in, it’s our turn to get in, and it’s about 15 people, and we all happen, just happened to be African American, it wasn’t planned, including the elevator operator who was a black woman. And we get in, she’s getting ready to press the button and everything, and suddenly they say, ‘You gotta get off the elevator! Clear the elevator!’ I thought there was a problem, I said, ‘What’s going on?’ And they said, ‘Well, there’s somebody with executive privilege. You gotta get off the elevator.’ So we get off. And, lo and behold, our governor and her security detail, it’s like maybe five or six people, get on this elevator, and so they took this elevator.”

When others countered that Hobbs required that elevator ride for security reasons, Maupin shared that he and almost every other attendee within the suites had a security detail, but he didn’t observe others forcing the evacuation of an elevator as Hobbs was alleged to have done. Maupin also disclosed that Senator Ruben Gallego shared a subsequent elevator ride with them.

“No, it was not [a call made by her security team]. Funny thing is a U.S. Senator and staff/security rode down after us,” said Maupin. “I have a security detail. Almost everyone in the suites did, besides guests. Electeds, candidates, business leaders. What she did was rude and unnecessary. It was a lame move. But only her latest.”

​Maupin questioned whether Hobbs had the authority to order people off elevators, and what about the football game triggered an executive privilege.

“What was the emergency?” said Maupin. “We all have pressing business. I’m pretty busy. I know Senator Gallego is pretty busy and [Governor] Stephen Roe Lewis, and everyone that was up there[.]”

Later, Maupin said he was assured by Representative Andy Biggs that the congressman wouldn’t use executive privilege to oust constituents, especially not minorities or disabled individuals. Biggs is vying to unseat Governor Hobbs in 2026. 

“I have also been assured that he would have ‘jumped right in [the elevator] with us,’” said Maupin.

Maupin questioned whether this was a consistent pattern of behavior with Hobbs, citing the racial discrimination allegations put forth by Talonya Adams, her former staffer, which were twice affirmed in court. 

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Hobbs’ Conduct Under Question After Jury Verdict In Retaliatory Firing And Discrimination Case

Hobbs’ Conduct Under Question After Jury Verdict In Retaliatory Firing And Discrimination Case

by | Nov 12, 2021 | News

By Terri Jo Neff |

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is coming under attack from within her own party over her involvement in events which led a federal jury to award $2.75 million in damages this week to a former policy advisor Hobbs helped fire in 2015.

That staff member, Talonya Adams, had brought it to the attention of Democratic Senate leaders that as a Black female she was being paid significantly less than policy advisors who were White males. Adams had also documented those other staffers received pay raises while she had not, despite no negative performance reviews.

That put Adams’ claims of pay disparity on the shoulders of Hobbs, who was Senate Minority Leader in 2015, making her the top ranking Democrat in the state Senate at the time. And when Adams was terminated a short while later, there was undisputed evidence that Hobbs was intimately involved in the process.

There have been two trials in U.S. District Court stemming from Adams’ federal racial discrimination and retaliatory termination firing lawsuit. In both, juries found in favor of Adams, and this week that second jury’s award of $2.75 million far exceeded the first jury’s award of $1 million.

There was little public attention to Hobbs’ role in the Adams case during the first trial in 2019 despite Hobbs serving as Secretary of State, which puts her in line to be Governor if anything happens to Doug Ducey.

But with Hobbs seeking the Democratic nomination for Arizona Governor, her actions just a few years ago as Senate Minority Leader are coming under intense scrutiny. Even within her own party.

Especially after Hobbs allowed her gubernatorial campaign spokeswoman to issue a press release after the jury’s unanimous verdict. Not only is the statement in the words of the spokeswoman Jennah Rivera instead of Hobbs, but the statement fail to express any concern for Adams. 

That statement turned Adams’ struggles into a campaign ad for Hobbs, with criticism of how diversity and wage inequity is currently handled by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Nowhere does Rivera own up to the fact Hobbs was in meetings with other Democrats in 2015 figuring out how to fire Adams just weeks after the employee complained about her pay.

And then there is the claim in Rivera’s statement about how Hobbs “voluntarily” testified. Hours later, Adams tweeted a copy of the federal subpoena which had been served on Hobbs requiring her presence in court for the trial.

In June, Hobbs explained her decision to run for governor by stating she wanted to “deliver transparency, accountability, and results for Arizonans — just like I’ve done my whole career.”

That has left one prominent Democrat calling for a sincere review of Hobbs’ actions both in 2015 and today in dealing with the Adams’ case.

“We need to have an open and honest discussion about what happened, who is accountable, and if we, as Democrats, are prepared to support a nominee for governor who behaved in this manner just a few short years ago,” said former Rep. Aaron Lieberman,

Lieberman, who is considered Hobbs’ top challenger for the Democratic nomination for governor, also says that the Democratic platform on equality and fair treatment for all needs to be more than a campaign motto.

“Being an effective Democratic leader is about more than just participating in partisan fights; it is about holding a key set of values and living those values all the time—especially when no one is watching,” said Lieberman.