Hobbs probe leaves Sen. Jake Hoffman's committee after Democrats question his role
Based on reporting by David Iversen for KTAR News, published September 21, 2026.
Senate Republicans announced Sept. 21 that their investigation of Gov. Katie Hobbs is moving out of the Senate Government Committee, which Sen. Jake Hoffman leads, KTAR News reported. The probe goes to the Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. David Farnsworth, with former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Gould as special counsel.
Three days earlier, Senate Democrats had sent Senate President Warren Petersen a letter questioning Hoffman's role. They pointed to possible conflicts of interest and to the risk that the probe could sway voters weeks before the election. State campaign finance reports show Turning Point PAC has paid Hoffman's company, 1TEN LLC, more than $1 million.
Republicans call the matter a pay-to-play scandal. It centers on more than $500,000 in political donations linked to Sunshine Residential Homes, which operates group homes, and the taxpayer-funded rate increases the company received afterward. Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to file charges after a monthslong investigation, and the Senate also wants to examine how she handled the matter.
Republican lawmakers said the handoff changes who runs the investigation but not its scope. "This transfer does not narrow the issues under investigation or diminish the Senate's resolve," Farnsworth said in a news release.
Hoffman said the change "takes away their excuses for non-cooperation." He accused the political media, which he called crooked, of protecting Hobbs and Mayes, both Democrats, and said it would rather attack the investigator than investigate the scandal.
Octavio Pulido, a spokesman for the Senate Democratic Caucus, said the committee switch did not ease Democrats' concerns and that Petersen had not responded directly.
Gould gave up his Arizona Supreme Court seat to run for attorney general in 2022 and lost the GOP primary. He promised a fair and dispassionate review. No new hearing date has been set.