By Howard Fischer
Mail | X: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX — The field of who wants to take on Katie Hobbs in 2026 just doubled in size.

In a statement Wednesday, Republican Karrin Taylor Robson touted her conservative policies and business background. That specifically includes her role as founder and president of Arizona Strategies which deals with real estate and land development.

But Robson made no secret of what she considers her strongest case: Her endorsement by President Donald Trump. In fact, she mentioned the president’s name 12 times in her announcement, along with two other instances of name dropping involving the president’s son and daughter-in-law.

But it remains unclear whether she will be able to make an exclusive claim to that.

Since Trump’s endorsement, Congressman Andy Biggs announced his own candidacy. And the former state Senate president has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s agenda in Washington.

Trump also has shown that his endorsements are not unique.
In the 2024 GOP primary for Congressional District 8, which includes much of the northwest Valley, Trump had endorsed Abe Hamadeh, only to later also give his political blessing to Blake Masters, declaring in a social media post there are “two spectacular America First Candidates” in the race.

Robson, for her part, made no mention of Biggs.

“I thank President Trump for his strong endorsement and look forward to working with him to secure our border and make Arizona safe again,” she said in her press release. And, at least indirectly, Robson sought to remind the president of what she has done, saying she “helped raise” more than $1 million to support him in his 2016 and 2020 races as well as sponsoring events with Donald Trump Jr. and Lara Trump.

But Biggs has something Robson does not: a record of never having lost an election.

Robson, for her part, is zero for one: Her lone political outing was in 2022 when she first ran for governor, only to lose the Republican primary to Kari Lake — endorsed Trump — by more than 40,000 votes.

Lake herself went on to lose the race to Hobbs.
Biggs also took a recent public action designed to show his support for the president. He was one of several members of the House Freedom Caucus who went to the jail to greet those arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol after they were pardoned by Trump.

There is one other possible contender to take on Hobbs.
State Treasurer Kimberly Yee said she has been asked to consider running for governor “and have been getting calls of support from around our state.”

Yee actually was briefly a candidate in 2022 before instead deciding to seek another term as treasurer. She cannot seek reelection in 2026.

But Yee already has been making the case that she would be a strong contender.

She pointed out she got 102,244 more votes in her reelection bid in 2022 than Hobbs got for governor. And Yee said she outperformed Democrat Mark Kelly by more than 68,000 votes that same year as he won the race for U.S. Senate.