PHOENIX — Donald Trump’s endorsement of Karrin Taylor Robson to run for governor of Arizona has riled the more conservative elements of the state Republican Party.
During a wide-ranging speech in Phoenix on Sunday, the former and next president encouraged Robson, who has been making the rounds in GOP circles, to enter the 2026 race.
“You’re going to have my support,’’ Trump said from the podium.
And while Robson hasn’t formally announced, she thanked Trump on her social media post.
“I am beyond honored to have his support,’’ wrote Robson, a business owner and former member of the Arizona Board of Regents who ran unsuccessfully in the GOP primary for governor in 2022 against Kari Lake.
Karrin Taylor Robson
The presidential promotion drew immediate fire given Robson’s political history, not the least of which was endorsing former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie when he attempted to take on Trump in this year’s presidential race.
Leading the criticism is state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who is the head of the Arizona Freedom Caucus.
“Donald Trump should fire whichever executive consultant or staffer told him to endorse” Robson, the Queen Creek Republican wrote on X.
President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday gave an early endorsement to Karrin Taylor Robson in the race to be Arizona’s next governor, during a wide-ranging speech at AmericaFest in Phoenix.
“She lost the 2022 primary for a reason. Arizona doesn’t want her open borders, pro-amnesty liberal policies,’’ Hoffman wrote, calling her “the Swamp.’’
State Rep. Jackie Parker, a Mesa Republican, said in her own post that having Trump get involved with endorsements in Arizona has “messed up the state.’’
“He needs to just focus on Congress and stay out of our statewide races,’’ she wrote.
The criticism is also coming from outside Arizona as Laura Loomer, a political activist and conspiracy theorist who has long ties with Trump, registered her objections.
Immigrant measure cited
Loomer pointed out that two years ago, Robson filmed a TV commercial in support of Proposition 308 to create an exception to a previous voter-approved law that denied certain state benefits to undocumented people in the U.S. The ballot measure spelled out that “dreamers’’ and certain other migrants brought here illegally as children could qualify for lower in-state tuition at state colleges and universities if they graduated from Arizona high schools.
“As a business leader and Republican, I will be voting ‘yes’ on Prop. 308,’’ Robson stated in that commercial. “It will improve Arizona’s economy by keeping skilled workers here in Arizona.’’
The measure passed by a margin of 51.2% to 48.8%, over the opposition of the Arizona Republican Party.
That endorsement did not escape state Rep. Austin Smith who, following the Trump comments on Sunday, reminded his own followers on X.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this,’’ wrote the Wittman Republican. “But you aren’t America First if you do a commercial to give DACA students in-state tuition.’’
Alliance with Pence
Robson, who could not be reached for comment Monday, has had her own issues with Trump, as she formed an alliance with former vice president Mike Pence.
Pence endorsed her for governor in 2022 over Trump-supported Lake. She returned the favor by hosting a fundraiser for him in 2023 during his own brief presidential bid.
And just days after Trump announced his bid to retake the White House in 2022, Robson, in a TV interview, said she saw the former president as a drag on the Republican Party.
“Somebody said — and I like the analogy — there’s fashion ‘dos’ and fashion ‘don’ts’, ‘’ she said. “Trump used to be a fashion ‘do.’ And overnight he’s become a fashion ‘don’t.’ ‘’
Robson also incurred the wrath of the state GOP when she endorsed political independent Kevin Robinson in a 2023 race for Phoenix City Council over conservative Republican Sam Stone. That provoked a rebuke by the Arizona Republican Party and Robson was stripped of her voting rights as a precinct committeewoman.
Robson has other early backers, however
But whatever opposition Robson would face from the conservative wing of the GOP if she runs for governor in 2026, she already has the backing of others within the party.
In that mix is Congressman Juan Ciscomani, a Tucson Republican who just won a second term in the U.S. House. He posted a message congratulating “my friend Karrin Taylor Robson’’ on the Trump endorsement.
That provoked a slap from radio talk show host Garrett Lewis, who has criticized Republicans he does not consider sufficiently conservative.
“Another RINO (Republican In Name Only) circling the wagon for Karrin,’’ Lewis posted. “The establishment is trying so hard to get back in power.’’
But Trump’s comments also drew praise from state Rep. Travis Grantham, who called the endorsement “outstanding.’’ The Gilbert Republican said the simple reason is political.
“She can win,’’ he told Capitol Media Services. “And Republicans need a candidate that can win to unseat Gov. (Katie) Hobbs.’’
Grantham also called Robson “quite conservative’’ and said she worked very hard to get Republicans elected this year, crediting her with being one of the reasons Republicans picked up seats in the state House and Senate. She raised more than $1.5 million through an Arizona PAC helping to fund GOP candidates in this year’s election.
Also on the developing Robson bandwagon is Sen. T.J. Shope. “Let’s do this Arizona!!!’’ wrote the Coolidge Republican on his social media page.
Hoffman, for his part, sniffed at the backing by Grantham and Shope, saying they are simply angling to be Robson’s choice for lieutenant governor. That’s a new position created by voters in which a gubernatorial candidate will select a running mate, similar to what happens in presidential races.
But Merissa Hamilton, who heads Strong Communities Foundation, which has aligned itself with conservative GOP politics, said the way she sees it, conservative Republicans are probably better off with Hobbs than Robson.
“At least, the Legislature would put up a fight against Katie Hobbs,’’ Hamilton said. “They would not put up a fight against the same radical Left positions that Karrin Taylor Robson holds.’’
Support for Robson among some key elements of the Republican Party is not new.
Grantham’s support for Robson, however, resulted in Lewis giving him the same RINO label as he did Ciscomani, something the state lawmaker brushed aside.
“You know, Ronald Reagan was a Democrat once,’’ Grantham said. “Donald Trump was a Democrat once. What’s your point?’’
Support for Robson among some key elements of the Republican Party is not new.
She gained the endorsement of outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey to succeed him in the 2022 Republican primary against Lake. But Lake still outpolled her by about 40,000 votes in the five-way race, even after former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon told his supporters to instead vote for Robson.
Lake went on to lose to Democrat Hobbs by about 17,000 votes in November 2022.
Other candidates
So far there are no announced candidates to take on Hobbs. But among the prospects is state Treasurer Kimberly Yee.
She announced her own gubernatorial candidacy in May 2021 to succeed Ducey. But that campaign lasted less than a year after both Lake and Robson got into the race.
Yee then easily won reelection to her own post in 2022 in a year that was bad for other Republicans on the state level, not just with Hobbs winning the gubernatorial race but Adrian Fontes getting elected secretary of state and Kris Mayes winning the race for attorney general. But at this point, reelection to her own office as treasurer is not an option for Yee as the Arizona Constitution limits her to two four-year terms.
Yee, in a statement Monday to Capitol Media Services, was noncommittal about her political future, saying she has “been asked to seriously consider running for governor.’’
“I love Arizona,’’ she said. “It’s where I was born and raised, and more than ever, we need strong, trusted leadership.’’
The other prospect is Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, the group that organized Sunday’s event where Trump backed Robson. Requests to him for comment went unanswered Monday.
Robson may have something that both Yee and Kirk lack: Access to cash, including her own. She spent more than $23 million in her ill-fated bid to be the GOP nominee for governor in 2022, including $18.4 million of her own money.
Robson made her first run for governor while a regent, a position she got from Ducey, saying she was “committed to do whatever it takes to defend Arizona from the radical left.’’
Her day job is as founder and president of Arizona Strategies, which is involved with development. She previously worked with DMB Associates, a Scottsdale-based master-planned community developer.
Before that she was an attorney practicing in the areas of land use, development and zoning laws, representing large landowners.
In the bio she released in her 2022 campaign, she boasted of that role, saying she “fought on behalf of economic growth and projects that have enabled thousands of new jobs for Arizona families.’’
While she has never held elective political office, she has genetic ties to some who have.
Her father, Carl Kunasek, was president of the Arizona Senate and later went on to serve on the Arizona Corporation Commission. Her brother Andrew Kunasek served as a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
