In November, Arizona voters will elect or re-elect a governor to serve in the state’s highest position of leadership for four years. At least 32 people who identify as Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and even the Green Party have filed statements of interest. Only eight, including Gov. Katie Hobbs, are eligible for the ballot.
Current members of Congress, Rep. Andy Biggs and Rep. David Schwikert, have filed and are frontrunners for the Republican nominees. Newcomers Ken Miceli and Scott Neely are also running as Republicans as well.

Teri Ann Hourihan and Hugh Lytle are candidates for the Arizona Independent Party, formerly known as the No Labels Party.

In 2026, Arizona will also elect a lieutenant governor as approved by voters in 2022. Candidates will choose a running mate following the primary; however, neither has publicly mentioned a running mate ahead of the race.

Arizona is one of five states — Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Wyoming — that does not have a lieutenant governor position. This position will replace the secretary of state in succession to the governor should they not finish their term.

Katie Hobbs
Hobbs is the incumbent and only Democratic candidate and has served as Arizona’s governor since 2022. She began her political career as a representative for Arizona’s 24th legislative district and advanced to state senator and secretary of state during Doug Ducey’s second term.

Hobbs has vetoed almost 400 bills in her four years in office, something Republicans criticize her for. She most recently denied both a license plate and a renaming of Loop 202 in honor of political activist Charlie Kirk, a right-wing podcaster who lived in Scottsdale and was assassinated in September.

She is the only candidate who supports abortion access and in 2024, she repealed the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to instate an almost total abortion ban in the state.
Hobbs lives in Phoenix with her husband and has two adult children.

Teri Ann Hourihan
Hourihan is a professional counselor and psychiatrist in Phoenix. She calls herself a “conservative voice for faith, family and freedom.”

 Her main issues center around the cost of living and corruption in state agencies.
Hourihan is one of the few candidates who goes into depth about her platform and some of the issues that voters have vocalized in recent years.

Hugh Lytle
Hugh Lytle is an entrepreneur and former Arizona State University quarterback. He is the founder of Equality Health in Scottsdale and he currently sits on the board. He says he sees issues with both parties and wants to find a solution for health care costs, given his background in health solutions.
“I know how to lower costs for this population without sacrificing care because my companies have done it,” he said on his website.

Andy Biggs
Biggs has been endorsed by President Trump and wants to make Arizona a right-wing haven with the Make America Healthy Again agenda. He once said he wanted Arizona to have similar politics to Florida. He is also the only candidate endorsed by President Trump and has an over 20-year career in Arizona state politics as he served as a state representative and senator for Arizona’s 22nd Legislative District.
He has been in Congress since 2017 and is the current chair of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative group in Congress that supports rising conservatives in the House.
He currently lives in Gilbert with his wife and has children who have followed his political steps, including State Senate candidate Mylie Biggs for District 14.

David Schweikert

Schweikert began his political career in 1990 and won in the race as a representative for Arizona’s 28th legislative district. He served in the state legislature for five years before running for Congress in 2008. He won the Republican primary in 2008 and 2009, before winning the seat in 2010 and joining the Arizona delegation in 2011.

Schweikert and his wife live in Fountain Hills with their two young children.

Scott Neely
Neely is not new to politics or the gubernatorial race. In 2022 he ran for office under a similar position that included water rights, infrastructure and increased security at the border.
Neely is the only candidate who has made water a top issue as the Colorado River states are clashing on how to allocate resources and improve irrigation for continued use.
He also prioritizes education.
“Arizona is ranked 49th in the nation for education, and I know that’s unacceptable and I know you think so too,” Neely said on his website.
While he outlines how he would like to improve education, it is unclear where he stands on the Empowerment Scholarship Account, or ESA vouchers, being continually funded by the state.

Ken Miceli
Miceli owns a Scottsdale construction company and is a podcast host in Scottsdale. His top issues are privacy, Second Amendment rights and housing affordability. He plans on creating a plan to make housing more affordable by lowering deposits and allowing banks to accept smaller payments.
“Politicians talk, I fix,” he said in a video on his website.
He prides himself on not being a career politician despite serving as president of the Scottsdale Homeowners Association for eight years.
Miceli says that he hopes to eliminate the property tax and claims that he can lower gas prices through negotiations with oil companies.

Risa Lombardo
Lombardo is the only candidate from the Green Party, despite being unknown to party leaders. There is little public information about Lombardo but her candidate statement says she has lived in Arizona since 1991 and has worked in the legal field since 1984.

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