PHOENIX — And then there were two.
On Thursday, Karrin Taylor Robson dropped out of the race to become the Republican nominee to run in November against incumbent Democrat Katie Hobbs for governor.
That leaves Andy Biggs and David Schweikert, both members of Congress, to battle it out in the July 21 GOP primary — a primary that, due to legislative action, will be held two weeks earlier than expected.
Robson, a developer and lawyer, said a three-way primary would drain resources and "turns into months of intraparty attacks.''
Robson
"It only weakens our conservative cause and gives the left exactly what they want: a fractured Republican Party heading into November,'' she said in a written statement. "With so much on the line in 2026, I am not willing to contribute to that outcome."
But it also comes after Robson sought to reinvent herself in a bid to appeal to the conservatives who tend to turn out in primary elections, after she narrowly lost the GOP gubernatorial primary in 2022 to Kari Lake, a Donald Trump acolyte, who in turn lost to Hobbs.
Robson sought and gained an endorsement in December 2024 from Trump, a backing she touted in every TV commercial.
That edge, however, disappeared when four months later, Trump also endorsed Biggs when he got into the race. Biggs probably is more closely aligned with the president and his issues.
And even with the Trump endorsement, Robson had trouble finding her footing with the MAGA crowd due to her record.
For example, in 2022, she appeared in a commercial endorsing Proposition 308. That measure overturned a voter-approved 2006 initiative that denies public benefits to undocumented immigrants, a provision the Arizona Supreme Court said also applies to allowing "dreamers" — people brought to the U.S. without documentation as children — to pay in-state tuition.
Prop. 308 carved out an exception for students who graduated from an Arizona high school and met certain other requirements.
"As a business leader and Republican, I will be voting yes on Prop. 308,'' Robson said in the 2022 commercial. "It will improve Arizona's economy by keeping skilled workers here in Arizona, kids we've already invested in for yours, with zero tax increase.''
From left to right, Democratic Gov, Katie Hobbs; Republican candidates for Arizona governor Rep. Andy Biggs, Karrin Taylor Robson and Rep. David Schweikert. Robson dropped out of the race Thursday.
Last year, however, she sought to put some distance between herself and the ballot measure, telling Republicans at a legislative district meeting that she has "never supported free tuition for illegal aliens.'' She also voiced support for an executive order issued by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to sue states that offer lower tuition to residents without legal status.
During a debate among GOP contenders in the 2022 gubernatorial race, Robson was the only candidate to defend Republican then-Gov. Doug Ducey.
Ducey by that point had earned the ire of the MAGA crowd in 2020 when, over the objections of Trump supporters, he certified the presidential race results showing that Joe Biden had won Arizona and the state's 11 electoral votes. Ducey even ignored a phone call directly from the president that came in even as he was signing the necessary paperwork.
Finally, there's the fact that Robson, despite her early entry to the race — and spending $2.2 million of her own money to jump-start the campaign — failed to clear the field, as Biggs and then Schweikert also joined the race.
Most polls showed her trailing Biggs.
Then there's the money.
The most recent campaign finance reports showed Robson had the most cash on hand of the three GOP contenders. But she also had burned through $3.6 million, something she was able to do because of the $2.2 million in personal cash.
Still, that was far less than the $16.9 million she spent in 2022 in her unsuccessful bid to be the gubernatorial nominee that year.
There was also another indication that Robson's head-start in the race had fizzled.
Former state Senate President Karen Fann had organized Building a Better Arizona, a political action committee to support Robson's candidacy, raising $1.4 million. But donations to that group came to a complete halt last fall, with no new money raised in the last quarter of 2025.
Biggs, meanwhile, has continued carve out a reputation as someone fully loyal to Trump, even being one of two Republicans on a House subcommittee who voted last year against a measure to require the Department of Justice to release the files it has on convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. He voted for the final bill — but only after Trump, facing near-certain defeat of his bid to quash the release, changed his mind.
As to finances, as of the end of last year, Biggs had taken in more than $1.9 million, leaving him with about $783,000 in the bank. But he has something that Robson did not: the endorsement of Charlie Kirk before his death, as well as Kirk's Turning Point PAC spending more than $458,000 of its money to get Biggs elected.
Schweikert, having started in October, had the least campaign money at the end of last year. But he is also attempting to transfer more than $577,000 form what he had set aside for his originally planned congressional reelection campaign, a transfer Biggs is challenging.
Biggs, for his part, is taking full advantage of Robson's departure.
"Our campaign is now the only campaign endorsed by President Trump and Charlie Kirk,'' he posted on social media.
Biggs said Robson "brought a valuable perspective to the race.'' He also echoed Robson's statement, calling this "a critical time for our party to unite and avoid a costly, divisive primary.''
Hobbs, who started raising money for her reelection campaign after she defeated Lake in the 2022 race, has raised a reported $15 million.
But there are other factors that could affect what happens in November — regardless of whether the GOP nominee is Biggs or Schweikert.
The new Arizona Independent Party is backing entrepreneur Hugh Lytle, who has said he will fund his campaign both with his own money and contributions. And, depending on the race, he could take votes either from Hobbs or whoever is the Republican contender.
Hobbs beat Lake in 2022 by just 17,117 votes.
Both major parties clearly see a threat and have filed suit to keep the Arizona Independent Party off the 2026 ballot, saying its efforts to simply rebrand itself from the No Labels Party without gathering signatures violate state law. A hearing on that is set for next month.
