Andy Biggs cruised to the Republican nomination for Arizona governor on Tuesday, setting the stage for one of the nation's most consequential fall contests. The hard-right congressman, backed by Donald Trump, defeated fellow Republican David Schweikert with ease, tapping into the GOP's deeply conservative base in a state that has become the battleground for competing visions of America's political future.
The general election matchup pits Biggs against incumbent Democrat Katie Hobbs, who flipped Arizona's governorship from red to blue in 2022 and ran unopposed in her primary. The race carries outsized national weight: Arizona transformed from Republican stronghold to genuine swing state over the past decade, and control of the governor's office will shape how elections themselves are conducted in a crucial 2028 battleground.
Biggs, a former Freedom Caucus chair, was central to efforts to overturn Trump's 2020 election loss in Arizona. He defeated Schweikert, who surrendered a competitive House seat after eight terms to pursue the governorship. Businessmen Ken Miceli and Scott Neely also competed for the nomination but failed to gain traction.
The contrast between the two finalists reflected a deeper Republican debate. Schweikert argued that Biggs' unyielding hard-right positioning and absolute fealty to Trump had handed Arizona to Democrats, allowing the party to lose control of top statewide offices. But voters sided with Trump's favored candidate anyway, continuing a pattern where the president's endorsement drives Republican primary outcomes even when his general election candidates have repeatedly stumbled in Arizona's most competitive races.
Arizona's transformation has been dramatic. Population growth, shifting suburban voting patterns around Phoenix, and an influx of college-educated voters reshaped the electorate. Since Trump's 2016 victory, Democrats captured both U.S. Senate seats and the top three statewide offices: governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. Trump narrowly won the state in 2024 after his 2020 loss, a defeat he spent years unsuccessfully fighting to overturn.
Beyond the governor's race, Republicans face national headwinds. The president's party historically bleeds support in midterm conditions, and recent polling shows Trump's approval sinking under pressure from inflation and foreign conflicts. Two Arizona House districts are toss-ups that could tip control of Congress.
In the First District anchored by affluent Scottsdale, Republicans nominated Jay Feely, a former Arizona Cardinals kicker, to hold the seat against Democrat Amish Shah. The suburbs around Phoenix have drifted Democratic over the past decade, and Shah nearly toppled Republican David Schweikert two years ago, capturing 48 percent. Democrat Marlene Galán-Woods, a former news anchor backed by the congressional campaign committee, also competed in the primary. She is the widow of Grant Woods, a former Republican attorney general who broke with his party over Trump.
In Arizona's Sixth District stretching from Tucson suburbs to the U.S.-Mexico border, Democrats eye Trump-era Republican Juan Ciscomani, who seeks a third term. Democrat JoAnna Mendoza, a Marine Corps veteran, advanced unopposed.
In the safely Republican Fifth District that Biggs is vacating, Trump-backed former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb won the nomination despite allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power documented in an Arizona Republic investigation. Prosecutors declined to charge him, and Trump reaffirmed backing for Lamb, who denies any wrongdoing. He faces Democrat Elizabeth Lee, a nurse, in November.
Republicans also selected nominees for state constitutional offices. Alex Kolodin, a state representative and attorney who spearheaded failed legal attempts to overturn Arizona's 2020 and 2022 elections, will challenge Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. Fontes has positioned himself as a firewall against Trump's election denialism while managing one of America's most scrutinized battleground states.
Kolodin defeated Gina Swoboda, a former state party chair who switched from pursuing a House bid to run for secretary of state instead.
Republicans hold narrow majorities in both chambers of Arizona's state legislature, and Tuesday's primaries resolved tight races that will shape power dynamics in the statehouse.
Author James Rodriguez: "Biggs wins easily, but Arizona Republicans are banking on Trump's name carrying them through a general election where his candidates have repeatedly failed to close the deal in a state that matters enormously."
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