List of Kari Lake's Allies in Arizona Fighting Governor Katie Hobbs

A group of Arizona Republicans has wasted no time in battling new Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, in the form of legal action over an executive order.

Hobbs, who narrowly defeated Republican Kari Lake in November's contentious gubernatorial election, issued the order on January 2. Set to go into effect April 1, the order fortifies nondiscrimination laws for state agencies and guarantees equal employment opportunities—notably for LGBTQ workers.

It amends executive orders in 2003 and 2009 under Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano and Republican Jan Brewer, respectively.

The Arizona Freedom Caucus—which was founded last summer under the umbrella of the State Freedom Caucus Network and mirrors the caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives—plans to sue Hobbs for what state Senator Jake Hoffman referred to as legislating via "executive fiat."

"If Katie Hobbs wants to legislate, she needs to get her butt out of the Governor's Office and run for the legislature and come back and join us and do that job," said Hoffman, chair of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, according to the Arizona Mirror.

Hoffman and other caucus members also reportedly vowed to "stand in [Hobbs'] way in every step of the process" if she continues to use executive orders.

"You can bet your a** that will happen," Hoffman said.

Aside from Hoffman, other state Republicans part of the caucus include:

• Jacqueline Parker, vice chair
• Joseph Chaplik, secretary/treasurer
• Beverly Pingerelli
• Cory McGarr
• Barbara Parker
• Rachel Jones
• Alex Kolodin
• Austin Smith
• Justine Wadsack
• Anthony Kern
• Laurin Hendrix

Axios estimated in July that about one-third of Arizona Republicans were part of the caucus.

Republican state Representative-elect Rachel Jones has pledged allegiance to Lake, tweeting, "I will NOT standby while my favorite state is stolen by radical leftists."

"It took 5 seconds for Katie Hobbs to begin legislating from the 9th floor, so I will not listen to her rhetoric for even 5 seconds," she said in another tweet. "There are too many questions left unanswered, litigation still moving through the courts, and many concerns about the border, not pronouns."

Other state lawmakers supporting the caucus include representatives Tyler Bowyer and Austin Smith, and senators Justine Wadsack and Anthony Kern, both of whom literally turned their backs to Hobbs during her State of the State address.

Ross Trumble, communications director for the Lake campaign, tweeted a photo of the pair with their backs turned.

Wadsack has repeatedly chastised Hobbs on Twitter, referring to her as a "dictator" and calling her executive order the penalization of free speech.

State Representative Cory McGarr, who walked out of Hobbs' speech and praised Wadsack, issued a statement on behalf of the caucus about Hobbs' executive order, calling Hobbs "a caricature of everything Americans have rightly come to disdain" about politics.

"I cannot and will not be a pawn in her attempt to appear legitimate while at the same time further disrespecting Arizonians by preparing them for more wokeness that they do not want," McGarr said.

Lake's campaign is awaiting the result of an appeal in response to a Maricopa County judge's ruling in December that tossed an election fraud lawsuit.

When asked what the end game is for the Lake campaign pending the appeal, Trumble told Newsweek, "I think you'd be better off asking the legislators."

Andy Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, told Newsweek that the Arizona caucus "is working hard to fix the mistakes Governor Hobbs made leading up to the midterm elections."

"The fact of the matter is many Arizonans no longer have faith following the Election Day debacle that was a direct result of her failed leadership in the 2022 election cycle," Roth said. "The caucus is not, in any way, trying to overturn an election, but rather the caucus is trying to make sure we have a system that works and that Arizonans can believe in."

Correction 01/11/23, 10:13 a.m. ET: This article was updated to reflect Jake Hoffman's position as senator, amend the list of caucus members and clarify that executive orders from 2003 and 2009 were from Jan Brewer and Janet Napolitano, not Doug Ducey.