Congressman Andy Biggs has won the Republican nomination for governor in Arizona, according to a race call by the Associated Press.
Biggs leapt ahead to an early and insurmountable lead on Tuesday night, when initial results were posted about an hour after polls closed throughout the state. Trailing Biggs are his fellow congressman, David Schweikert, as well as businessmen Ken Miceli and Scott Neely.
The winner of the Republican primary will go on to face incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November.
Biggs was long considered the frontrunner in the race, buoyed by President Trump’s endorsement and the backing of Turning Point USA’s political arm, a political organization that has grown in influence in Arizona’s Republican circles.
Still, Biggs faced a tepid challenge from Schweikert, who argued Biggs is too extreme to compete with Hobbs in November. Schweikert likened Biggs to another Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate, Kari Lake, who lost to Hobbs in 2022.
For his part, Biggs has sought to distance and distinguish himself from Lake, as the Hobbs campaign labels him a “carbon copy” of a Republican voters statewide rejected four years ago.
Biggs does have experience in office, unlike Lake, having served in Congress for nine years representing the East Valley, and years before that spent serving a Senate president in the Arizona Legislature.
Biggs voted against certifying Arizona’s election results in 2020 and has said elections are not safe, but in this race — Biggs has pitched himself as a more moderate candidate who can work across the aisle.
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Find everything you need to know about elections in Arizona and Maricopa County from KJZZ's politics team. -
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