PHOENIX — Arizona GOP Chairman Sergio Arellano this week, in an interview on the James T. Harris show, shared his concerns about Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ investigation into allegations that Governor Katie Hobbs was involved in a pay-to-play scheme.
Chairman Arellano predicted that Attorney General Kris Mayes will face investigations by other government agencies into her breach of the public trust for failing to conduct a thorough investigation into Hobbs’s financial dealings.
Arellano stated in his interview that Arizona Democrats should be “terrified” over the continued inquiries into Mayes.
“Kris Mayes didn’t just make Sunshine Residential Homes disappear; she may have just moved the spotlight directly onto herself,” stated Chair Arellano. “Arizonans deserve better than Katie Hobbs’s Culture of Corruption. We can do better. We will do better by electing Andy Biggs.”
Arellano also urged Republicans to issue the transcripts from their investigation into Mayes and Hobbs.
Chair Arellano discussed a letter from Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro in which he reveals that Mayes omitted a key bribery allegation from her failed investigation into allegations that the CEO of group home contractor Sunshine Residential Homes, Simon Kottoor, and Hobbs engaged in wrongdoing.
Speaker Montenegro accused Mayes of leaving out the allegation that Kottoor offered to speak in favor of then-DCS Director Mike Faust with Hobbs in exchange for a rate increase for services rendered through Arizona’s contract with Sunshine Residential Homes.
In his letter to Attorney General Mayes, Speaker Montenegro wrote in part:
As you know, in my capacity as Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, I have been conducting a legislative investigation into allegations involving rate increases received by Sunshine Residential Homes in 2023 and 2024. To preserve the integrity of that investigation-as well as parallel law-enforcement investigations, I have not publicized our investigative steps or any interim conclusions that may have been reached.
However, your Office’s August 20, 2026 Memorandum cannot remain unaddressed. That Memorandum reflects serious deficiencies that call into question whether the investigation was conducted in good faith and for legitimate purposes. The Memorandum suggests that your Office failed to pursue critical issues and reached conclusions that directly conflict with reliable evidence-including information provided by the very witnesses your Office claims to have interviewed. Those failures raise the specter that your Memorandum was intended to influence the November election by attempting to inoculate the Governor from a perceived political vulnerability.
“I have confidence that the facts will come to light and the voters will reject both Hobbs and Mayes,” concluded Chair Arellano.
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