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Debra Hobbs
Debra M. Hobbs (b. July 8, 1955) was a 2016 Republican candidate for District 94 of the Arkansas House of Representatives.
Hobbs is a former Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, representing District 94 from 2009 to 2015.
Hobbs ran for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas in the 2014 elections, having announced her candidacy on February 12, 2014.[1] She had originally planned to seek the governorship in 2014, but switched races after the resignation of former Lt. Gov Mark Darr left the seat open.[2]
Hobbs formerly served on the Benton County Quorum Court.
Biography
Hobbs earned her B.S. in science composite from the University of the Ozarks in 1977 and her M.S. in counseling education from the University of Arkansas in 1987. Her professional experience includes working as a former school counselor/teacher and as small business owner.
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Hobbs served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Legislative Council |
| • Joint Performance Review |
| • Education |
| • State Agencies and Governmental Affairs |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Hobbs served on these committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Legislative Council |
| • Education |
| • Joint Performance Review |
| • State Agencies and Governmental Affairs |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Hobbs served on these committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs |
| • Judiciary |
| • Joint Performance Review |
Campaign themes
2016
Hobbs' campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
While serving three terms as your Representative, I consistently stood for life, liberty, and economic freedom. I will be an advocate for all, especially for you the taxpayer. In addition to my Christian beliefs, principles my votes will be based upon include:
|
” |
| —Debra Hobbs[4] | ||
Sponsored legislation
Hobbs' sponsored legislation included:
- HB 1055 - "TO ALLOW A CHURCH OR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION TO PURCHASE TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY AND SERVICES EXEMPT FROM SALES AND USE TAX WHEN THE CHURCH OR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION IS PROVIDING A COMMUNITY SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC."
- HB 1056 - "TO EXEMPT SALES AND USE TAX ON THE MANUFACTURER'S OR DEALER'S REBATE OF A MOTOR VEHICLE."
- HB 2049 - "TO ENSURE THAT STUDENTS ENROLLED IN SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE INFORMED OF GUARDIANSHIP OPTIONS AVAILABLE UPON THE STUDENT'S REACHING EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OF AGE."
Political courage test
Hobbs provided answers to the Arkansas State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test. The test informs voters how a candidate would vote on the issues if elected. When asked her legislative priorities she replied:
"Since Arkansas ranks 5th in the nation in poverty, 49th in percapita income, 24th in tax burden, and 50th in percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher, we, as leaders in the state need to do what we can to address these broad issues. A top priority is to do what I can to allow citizens of Arkansas to keep more of their hard earned money by controlling government spending as much as possible. Assuring property rights and personal liberties are important. It is important to keep in touch with constituents to discover their concerns."[5]
Elections
2016
Ballotpedia's analysis revealed that only 42 of the 100 seats up for election in 2016 involved competition between Democrats and Republicans. This made it numerically impossible for Democrats to take control of either Arkansas legislative chamber in 2016.
The reason for the low competition was that candidates were in safe districts for their parties. Between 1972 and 2014, an upward trend in uncontested state legislative elections occurred.
The Democratic Party of Arkansas focused its 2016 efforts on the state’s House of Representatives. Without the numbers to win the state Senate, H.L. Moody, communications director for the Democratic Party of Arkansas, told Ballotpedia that the party’s goal was to “start building back where we can,” beginning with the House.
Ballotpedia spoke to political analyst Richard Winger, who said that the early primary deadline for the 2016 elections was a possible factor as well, making it difficult for Democrats to recruit candidates early.
The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing period began at noon local time on November 2, 2015, and ended at noon local time on November 9, 2015.[6]
Incumbent Rebecca Petty defeated Grimsley Graham in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 94 general election.[7]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 94 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Rebecca Petty Incumbent |
54.36% | 4,926 | |
| Democratic | Grimsley Graham | 45.64% | 4,136 | |
| Total Votes | 9,062 | |||
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State | ||||
Grimsley Graham ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 94 Democratic Primary.[8][9]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 94 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Grimsley Graham (unopposed) | |
Incumbent Rebecca Petty defeated Debra Hobbs in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 94 Republican Primary.[8][9]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 94 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Rebecca Petty Incumbent |
57.71% | 1,988 | |
| Republican | Debra Hobbs | 42.29% | 1,457 | |
| Total Votes | 3,445 | |||
2014
Hobbs announced on May 13, 2013, that she would run for governor in 2014. She switched races after the January 2014 resignation of former Lt. Gov Mark Darr. She launched her bid for the recently opened lieutenant governor seat on February 12, 2014.[1] She lost the Republican nomination in the primary election on May 20, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.[10] She is ineligible to run for re-election to her state house seat because of term limits.
- Republican primary
| Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Tim Griffin |
63.4% | 109,851 | ||
| Andy Mayberry | 20.6% | 35,703 | ||
| Debra Hobbs | 16% | 27,803 | ||
| Total Votes | 173,357 | |||
| Election results via Arkansas Secretary of State. | ||||
2012
Hobbs ran for re-election in the 2012 election for Arkansas House of Representatives, District 94. Hobbs ran unopposed in the May 22 Republican primary and ran unchallenged in the November 6, 2012, general election as well.[11][12][13]
2010
Hobbs won re-election to the 96th District seat in 2010. She faced no opposition.[14]
2008
On November 4, 2008, Hobbs won election to the 96th District Seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives, running unopposed in the general election.[15]
Hobbs raised $10,733 for her campaign.[16]
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Arkansas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2014
In 2014, the Arkansas General Assembly was in session from February 10 to March 20.
Ballotpedia staff did not find any state legislative scorecards published for this state in 2014. If you are aware of one, please contact editor@ballotpedia.org to let us know.
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2013, the 89th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 14 through May 17.
|
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2012, the Arkansas General Assembly was in session from February 13 to March 13. Ballotpedia staff did not find any state legislative scorecards published for this state in 2012. If you are aware of one, please contact editor@ballotpedia.org to let us know. |
2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2011, the 88th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 10 to April 27.
|
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Hobbs and her husband, Ray, have two children.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Debra + Hobbs + Arkansas + House
See also
- Arkansas Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014
- Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
- Arkansas House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Arkansas State Legislature
- Arkansas state legislative districts
External links
- Official campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Debra Hobbs on Facebook
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Arkansas News, "Republican candidate switches to lieutenant governor’s race," February 12, 2014
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "State Rep. Debra Hobbs ran for Arkansas gov.," May 13, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Debra Hobbs for Arkansas, "Main page," accessed February 18, 2016
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Rep. Hobbs Issue Positions," accessed May 12, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Election Dates," accessed November 17, 2015
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election and Nonpartisan Runoff Election," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed July 25, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Results," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "State Rep. Debra Hobbs running for Arkansas gov.," May 13, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Election Results 2012," accessed November 7, 2012
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2012 Election candidates," March 8, 2012
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official election results," accessed December 13, 2013
- ↑ VoteNaturally.org, "2008 general election results, Arkansas," November 4, 2008
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Arkansas House spending, 2008," November 4, 2008
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Ballotpedia, "Arkansas's Freedom Scorecard," accessed July 10, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Les Carnine (R) |
Arkansas House District 94 2013–2015 |
Succeeded by Rebecca Petty (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Arkansas House District 96 2009–2013 |
Succeeded by Duncan Baird (R) |
