PHOENIX — U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, a fierce ally of President Donald Trump and former head of the House Freedom Caucus, won the Republican nomination for Arizona governor Tuesday.
Biggs defeated fellow U.S. Rep. David Schweikert in the primary and will face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in what is likely to be one of the closest gubernatorial races in November.
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.
During the campaign Schweikert argued that Biggs is unelectable and would continue a decade of backsliding for Republicans in Arizona. The party has nominated a string of Trump loyalists who excited the GOP base but turned off independents and lost general elections, and Democrats now hold both of the state’s Senate seats and the top three state offices.
But Schweikert struggled to raise money and was unable to overcome Biggs’ advantages, including Trump’s endorsement and support from the Turning Point Action conservative group’s grassroots turnout machine. Schweikert didn’t even return to Arizona for the election, opting to remain in Washington as the House passed a government funding bill Tuesday.
Biggs said he can unite Republicans going into the general election.
Meanwhile, both parties had hotly contested primaries to replace Schweikert in the highly competitive 1st Congressional District.
Republicans were also 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, 2021, 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.
“I want the border secured. I want the police and more money spent in the right places like education,” said Kate Rouleau, a 67-year-old Republican who voted for Biggs. “Biggs has the same quality as President Trump.”
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 focused their attacks on Biggs, whom they plan to portray as an extremist focused on helping Trump and not Arizonans.
Primaries 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.
Former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely won Tuesday’s GOP primary over Joseph Chaplik, a former state legislator popular with many of the GOP’s grassroots activists, and businessperson John Trobough.
Feely had President Donald Trump’s endorsement but has been dogged by criticism for living outside the district.
Republicans hold a voter registration advantage in the affluent 1st District, which includes northeast Phoenix, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Paradise Valley.
But it started to trend toward the center after President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory. Redistricting accelerated the trend, fueling Democratic hopes that the seat could be flipped.
In the Democratic contest in the 1st District, the party’s 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.
In Tucson, retired Marine drill instructor JoAnna Mendoza ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination to challenge second-term Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani, who also had 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 turned salacious as Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who was endorsed by Trump, came under scrutiny for alleged sexual misconduct and abuse of power. Lamb won his primary Tuesday, however.
The county attorney cleared him of criminal wrongdoing, and Trump reiterated his endorsement this month. Lamb dismissed the allegations as “slander and lies.”
He faced Daniel Keenan, who owns a construction company.
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• Associated Press writer Josh Kelety contributed.
