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The Republican race to take on incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs this November just got a lot less crowded.
Thursday afternoon, Republican contender and career lobbyist Karrin Taylor Robson announced that “after deep reflection, prayer, and many conversations with my family,” she was suspending her gubernatorial campaign. The decision is a somewhat stunning development considering that Robson and Rep. Andy Biggs were considered frontrunners for the GOP nomination.
In her announcement, Robson touted her campaign’s achievements — specifically, her 11,000 donors and “one of the strongest fundraising operations in Arizona’s history,” though that leaves out that the wealthy Robson self-funded a notable portion of her campaign — but said that she wanted to avoid a bruising primary campaign that might wound the eventual Republican nominee.
“But we cannot afford a divisive Republican primary that drains resources and turns into months of intraparty attacks,” Robson wrote. “It only weakens our conservative cause and gives the left exactly what they want: a fractured Republican Party heading into November. With so much on the line in 2026, I am not willing to contribute to that outcome.”
Robson, who last ran for governor in 2022 before losing to eventual GOP nominee Kari Lake, was the first Republican to declare her candidacy for governor, doing so in 2024. She even secured a crucial endorsement from President Donald Trump before any other candidates entered the race.
However, the MAGA wing of the Republican Party never bought into Robson’s sudden shift from centrist Republican (and sometimes Democratic donor) to Trump cheerleader. State Sen. Jake Hoffman, the leader of the Arizona Freedom Caucus in the state legislature, blasted Robson’s candidacy when she first announced it and questioned who counseled Trump to endorse her. At the Arizona Republican Party convention in 2025, Robson was heavily booed.
When Biggs entered the race, far-right groups like Turning Point USA coalesced behind him as the truer MAGA candidate. When Trump also endorsed Biggs, Robson’s road to the nomination got much tougher. She and Biggs were essentially running in the same MAGA lane, but only Biggs had the MAGA street cred to back it up. Whatever appeal Robson previously offered as a centrist candidate, she’s seemingly squandered by so wholeheartedly supporting Trump and his increasingly unpopular agenda.
Her exit sets up a much clearer clash for the nomination between Biggs and his congressional colleague, Rep. David Schweikert. Biggs is very much of the MAGA stripe, while Schweikert has never cozied up to Trump as closely. But that doesn’t mean Schweikert is a moderate — he’s a dedicated fiscal conservative (though he voted for Trump’s budget-exploding One Big, Beautiful Bill) and is a staunch anti-abortion lawmaker who’d love to shred Arizona’s new constitutional amendment protecting a woman’s right to choose.
Whether Schweikert can mount an effective opposition to Biggs remains to be seen; his campaign has struggled for oxygen with both Biggs and Robson entering the race long before he did. Nonetheless, his campaign has touted internal polling that it says shows that Biggs is too extreme to win the general election, perhaps meaning that Arizona’s distinct brand of Trump-skeptical Republicans might unite behind him.
If Robson has a preference in that fight, she declined to say in her suspension statement.
“I encourage my supporters to stay engaged, stay involved, and stay focused on the mission ahead. Arizona is worth fighting for, and this election will determine the direction of our state for years to come,” she said. “I remain committed to helping Republicans win in 2026 and to ensuring Arizona remains strong, safe, and free for generations to come.”
