PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Republicans are choosing nominees Tuesday to challenge Democrats who hold top offices as the GOP searches for a path back to power in a battleground state it used to dominate.
U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs and David Schweikert, who represent neighboring districts in metro Phoenix, offer a clash of styles in the race to take on Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, considered the most endangered Democratic governor in the country this election cycle.
With President Donald Trump’s endorsement and support from the grassroots turnout machine of the conservative group Turning Point Action, Biggs says he can unite the party going into a general election.
Schweikert says his low key, pro-business, fiscal conservatism can win back voters turned off by a string of Trump loyalists like Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for governor four years ago.
Both parties have hotly contested primaries to replace Schweikert in the highly competitive 1st Congressional District.
Republicans also are picking nominees for secretary of state and attorney general, key posts with power over elections in a state that was pivotal for Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss in 2020.
Biggs and Schweikert responded differently to Trump’s GOP takeover
Biggs built a national profile as chair of the House Freedom Caucus from 2019 to 2022 and as a staunch defender of Trump. He assisted the president’s attempt to block the certification of his loss in the 2020 election, voting against accepting Electoral College votes from Arizona and other battleground states after the Jan. 6 riot.
He has always represented safe Republican seats and is a veteran of factional brawls within the GOP. Before going to Congress, he nearly lost his post as state Senate president during a confrontation with then-Gov. Jan Brewer, also a Republican, over her push to expand Medicaid.
Schweikert has walked a tightrope with Trump, carefully keeping his distance without antagonizing him. That has helped him win a string of tough races in a competitive House district — a track record he says will help him win over swing voters and beat Hobbs — but has left him isolated from Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base.
Democrats have focused their attacks on Biggs, whom they plan to portray as an extremist focused on helping Trump and not Arizonans.
Primaries will set the field for a top House battleground
Schweikert’s 1st District is a top battleground in the fight for a congressional majority. Anchored in Scottsdale, it is home to many of the white, highly educated and affluent voters who have soured on the GOP under Trump.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee controversially threw its support behind Marlene Galán-Woods, a former television news anchor who used to be a Republican. Her late husband, Grant Woods, was the Republican attorney general in the 1990s and later became a vocal Trump critic.
Galán-Woods’ chief opponent, Amish Shah, is an emergency medicine doctor and former state legislator who was the nominee in 2024 but lost narrowly to Schweikert.
On the Republican side, former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feeley has Trump’s endorsement. But he has been dogged by criticism for living outside the district — he resides in Biggs’ district and originally was running there until Trump endorsed a rival in that contest.
Feeley faces Joseph Chaplik, a former state legislator popular with many of the GOP’s grassroots activists, and businessperson John Trobough.
In Tucson, retired Marine drill instructor JoAnna Mendoza is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination to challenge second-term Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani, who also has no primary opponent. The seat is perennially competitive in general elections and is a top pickup target for Democrats in November.
Meanwhile, the GOP primary for the safe Republican seat Biggs is vacating has turned salacious: Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is endorsed by Trump, came under scrutiny for alleged sexual misconduct and abuse of power.
The county attorney cleared him of criminal wrongdoing, and Trump reiterated his endorsement this month. Lamb dismissed the allegations as “slander and lies.”
He faces Daniel Keenan, who owns a construction company.
Jonathan J. Cooper, The Associated Press
