ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV

Hobbs notes that some of her fellow governors, particularly Democrats, are questioning whether the nonpartisan association still serves their interests. She said that’s leading her to consider whether she and Arizona are served by being members.

“I’ve had those conversations with some of my colleagues,’’ she said, declining to “get into details’’ about those talks.

“But we’re looking at the benefits versus the cost,’’ Hobbs said.

The cost is $130,000 a year. “And I’m not sure we’re getting the benefits,’’ she said.

The organization describes itself as “a leading forum for bipartisan policy solutions.’’ It says it “advances bipartisan dialogue,’’ facilitates information sharing and advocates bipartisan policy priorities.

But it is what the NGA is not doing that has irked some Democrats.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly told reporters in July she won’t be renewing her state’s membership.

“The NGA does some very, very good things, particularly in the area of training for governors’ staffs,’’ she said. “But they also need to be a states’ rights advocate. And I think they’ve sort of fallen down on that role.’’

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has a more specific spat with the NGA.

He sent a letter earlier this month to the organization as President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy the Texas National Guard to his state. He said such deployments, over the objections of affected state governors, show “we have abandoned the foundational principles that have protected our Republic for nearly 250 years.’’

Pritzker said the NGA should denounce the federal action.

“Should National Governors Association leadership choose to remain silent, Illinois will have no choice but to withdraw from the organization,’’ he wrote. He told Rachel Maddow of MSNBC that “we should be standing as one against the idea that Donald Trump can call up the National Guard against our will.’’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a post on X earlier this month, expressed a similar view.

“If the National Governors Association cannot stand against states literally invading one another, count me out,’’ he wrote.

And The Atlantic reported that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will stop paying dues to the NGA.

Hobbs said she is making her own evaluation. “As a governor, I would like my national organization to help further the interests of governors,’’ she said.

“It’s been challenging to be on the same page in these really partisan times,’’ Hobbs said. “And I’m not sure that’s what’s really happening right now.�

Hobbs, who is seeking reelection in a state where her party is in the minority, has been less inclined to get in the middle of the debate about Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard into several Democratic states.

She has repeatedly deflected questions of whether she would object to soldiers being sent to Arizona, calling the question “hypothetical.’’

Hobbs was one of four Democratic governors who this past summer refused to sign a letter to the president declaring that activating soldiers without the consent of a state’s governor “is an alarming abuse of power, ineffective, and undermines the mission of our service members.�

Hobbs, in discussing whether she will withdraw from NGA, said any decision is unrelated to the president’s action. “It’s greater than that,’’ she said.

None of this would affect Hobbs’ membership in the Democratic Governors Association.

There is no cost for that membership, as that organization is financed through donations. She benefits financially from it, at least politically: It has given $75,000 this election cycle to Copper State Values, a political action committee run by Nicole DeMont, who also manages Hobbs’ reelection campaign.

But that system works both ways, with the Republican Governors Association having backed the unsuccessful 2022 bid for governor by Kari Lake and, prior to that, the election of Republican Doug Ducey.