by Staff Reporter | Jan 21, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Congressman Andy Biggs is planning to run for Arizona governor, per a statement of intent filed on Tuesday.
The 2026 gubernatorial race may be a showdown between a veteran lawmaker known for challenging the D.C. status quo and the Biden administration, and the state’s first Democratic leader in over a decade, Governor Katie Hobbs.
Biggs, a longtime member and former chair of the House Freedom Caucus, has made his mark in Congress as a fiscally conservative hardliner. This was made especially clear during the pandemic, when other Republicans unified with Democrats time and again on increasing spending to offset emergency government mandates which crippled the economy.
Biggs was just one of the only two representatives to vote against the $8 billion for COVID-19 pandemic aid in early March of 2020. The congressman remarked in a public statement at the time that President Donald Trump had requested a fraction of that “bloated” amount ($2 billion) to fund a federal response to the outbreak.
Biggs’ assessment of the political climate at the time — issued exactly a week before Trump declared a national emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic — ultimately proved a wise warning unheeded:
“Throwing money at a potentially serious issue does not alleviate the American people’s concerns. Nor does politicizing the issue to score points for future elections,” said Biggs. “Congressional Republicans and Democrats should join the White House to calmly, wisely, and pro-actively communicate a unified response to their constituents. We must rise to the occasion and do what is best for this situation – as well as for future generations.”
Biggs was also one of only a few dozen who voted against the $15 billion Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed days later.
In all, the federal government spent $4.6 trillion on COVID-19.
Biggs would continue to oppose efforts to mitigate unchecked spending. In 2023, Biggs fought against Congress’ plan to raise the debt ceiling.
Biggs’ other key votes included his opposition to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022, in large part on the basis of since-removed provisions requiring women to register for the draft.
The congressman has consistently supported legislation to close and prioritize the U.S. border over aid to foreign countries’ military efforts. Consistent with his dedication to securing American interests first, Biggs has consistently voted against the billions in funding afforded to Ukraine under the Biden administration.
In 2021, that first year of the border crisis, Biggs sponsored a resolution to impeach then-Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. In subsequent years, Biggs signed onto several efforts to impeach former President Joe Biden as well as former Attorney General Merrick Garland.
During his eight years in Congress, Biggs has sponsored over 900 bills and cosponsored nearly 1,300 bills.
Only one of Biggs’ bills has passed Congress, made it to the president’s desk, and became law: HR 4983, designating the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Gilbert as the Staff Sergeant Alexander W. Conrad Veterans Affairs Health Clinic.
35 of Biggs’ cosponsored bills made it to the president’s desk. Three were vetoed, and 32 became law.
This session, Biggs has introduced over 80 proposed bills on a wide scope of red-meat Republican issues to strengthen and enforce immigration laws, modify individual health coverage requirements, restrict executive national emergency authority, prohibit vaccine and mask mandates, roll back foreign intelligence surveillance, require greater performance measures from various agencies, tie congressional salaries to budgeting agreements, pull back on various agencies’ spending or authority, abolish certain agencies, expand veteran care options, undo spying on Americans, simplify congressional bills, eliminate DEI funding in federal government, expand oil and gas production, ban abortion, and establish school choice, to name a few.
Biggs currently sits on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Committee on the Judiciary.
Other declared Republicans who filed statements of interest: Christopher Ames, Scott Neely, and George Nicholson. One declared Libertarian, Barry Hess, filed a statement of interest.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Terri Jo Neff | Aug 5, 2022 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
On Wednesday, Kari Lake declared herself victorious in the Republican primary election for governor. On Thursday, the rest of the state followed.
Lake has nearly 19,800 more votes than her main challenger, Karrin Taylor Robson, as of Thursday night. She was one of several candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and former Vice President Mike Pence had endorsed Taylor Robson, who held a commanding six point lead when the first results were announced around 8 p.m. Election Day. However, that margin continued to shrink as updated results were announced throughout the late evening hours.
With nearly 200,000 ballots across the state still needing to be tabulated as of Wednesday morning, election observers predicted Lake would likely receive the majority of the still-to-be-counted votes. They pointed to the Lake campaign’s well-executed “get out the vote” promotion for election day.
Those predictions held true throughout Wednesday as additional results were announced. Lake quickly pushed ahead of Taylor Robson and held a small lead all day.
Then on Thursday, Lake’s margin of victory continued to expand as the bulk of the previously unreported votes were announced. Shortly after 7 p.m., the Associated Press declared Lake the winner. Her margin of victory is holding at just less than three percent.
Lake was brutally critical of Taylor Robson during the primary but hopes her main challenger “will come over” to support Lake’s campaign against the Democratic nominee, current Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
“We don’t maybe agree on every single thing. but I think we agree on the most important issues of the day,” Lake said of Taylor Robson. “And I believe that Karrin will come in because I know for a fact Karrin loves this state.”
The Republican Governors Association (RGA) released a statement late Thursday congratulating Lake on her victory. Ducey, who is co-chairman of the RGA, was not quoted in the statement. Instead, the comments came from RGA Vice-Chair Kim Reynolds, the governor of Iowa.
“From tackling Biden’s border crisis, to standing up for law enforcement, or keeping Arizona’s economy growing, Kari is ready to fight for Arizona,” according to Reynolds. “In contrast, Katie Hobbs is nothing more than a radical far-left politician whose open borders, anti-law enforcement views are completely out of step with mainstream Arizona.”
Lake and Taylor Robson led a field of five Republicans seeking to take on Hobbs. One of those candidates was former Congressman Matt Salmon, who withdrew from the race in late June, past the deadline for having his name removed from the ballot.
Salmon received more than 27,700 primary votes despite throwing his support to Taylor Robson. Nearly 86 percent of those voters would have had to follow Salmon over to the Taylor Robson camp in order hold off Lake.
The other Republican candidates were Scott David Neely, who received almost 23,000 votes, and Paola “Z” Tulliani-Zen, who received nearly 15,500 votes.
by Corinne Murdock | Jun 29, 2022 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
On Tuesday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon ended his campaign, citing low polling numbers. Salmon received an average of 12 to 14 percent of the vote in recent polls against his top two contenders, Karrin Taylor Robson and Kari Lake.
“Unfortunately, numbers are numbers, and it has become clear to me that the path to a first-place victory is no longer a realistic possibility,” stated Salmon. “Republican primary voters deserve more than having their votes split on August 2nd, and so I am leaving this race for the same reason that I entered it: because it is what’s best for the people of Arizona.”
Salmon is the latest to drop out in the crowded Republican primary. Steve Gaynor withdrew at the end of April, also citing low polling numbers against top contenders Salmon, Lake, and Robson.
“This week I received survey results that showed I would have a high probability of winning against each of the other candidates in a head-to-head matchup,” wrote Gaynor. “In a three-way race, I would have a reasonable probability of winning. However, in a four-way race, my chance of winning is low enough to be unrealistic.”
State Treasurer Kimberly Yee withdrew at the beginning of this year, deciding to run for re-election to her current office instead.
That leaves Robson, Lake, Scott Neely, and Paola Tulliani-Zen, along with several write-ins: Patrick Finerd, Carlos Roldan, and Alex Schatz. Robson and Lake are the top two contenders in the field at present.
The most recent poll from Trafalgar showed Lake with a 12-point lead over Robson.
However, Data Orbital polling from earlier this month revealed Lake with a four-point lead over Robson. The pollsters have an A/B rating from FiveThirtyEight.
Another poll from OH Predictive Insights this month showed Lake with an even smaller margin of two points.
Real Clear Politics averaged Lake at a seven-point lead ahead of Robson.
The Democratic primary is far smaller: Secretary of State Katie Hobbs is up against businessman and career politician Marco Lopez. Former state legislator Aaron Lieberman withdrew last month.
OH Predictive Insights has consistently shown Hobbs with a comfortable lead over Lopez. In May, the pollsters found that 43 percent of those surveyed would vote for Hobbs, while only 9 percent would vote for Lopez. However, 40 percent reported that they were undecided.
Predictive polling on who would win the governor’s race consistently showed Hobbs with a lead.
According to a May poll from GQR Research which Hobbs sponsored, the secretary of state led Robson by one point and Lake by five points. GQR has a B rating from FiveThirtyEight.
Data Orbital polling from February, which has an A/B rating, reported slightly different leads: Hobbs would lead Robson by five points and Salmon by one point, but Lake would lead Hobbs by one point.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
