Arizona Republican Karrin Taylor Robson on Thursday dropped her bid for governor, a surprise decision that ends a bitterly contested primary battle in which President Donald Trump endorsed two rival candidates.
Robson earned Trump’s endorsement in 2024 — though her path to the nomination was complicated by the entrance of Rep. Andy Biggs, an avowed Trump ally that the president was quick to endorse last April as well.
“We cannot afford a divisive Republican primary that drains resources and turns into months of intraparty attacks,” Robson said in her announcement Thursday. “It only weakens our conservative cause and gives the left exactly what they want: a fractured Republican Party heading into November. With so much on the line in 2026, I am not willing to contribute to that outcome.”
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Robson, a business executive who had earned a reputation as a moderate before pivoting to court Trump’s MAGA base, previously lost the state’s Republican gubernatorial primary to local news anchor and Trump ally Kari Lake in 2022.
In a post to X, Biggs, who also holds the endorsement of conservative youth group Turning Point USA, acknowledged Robson’s “well-run campaign.”
“Our campaign is now the only campaign endorsed by President Trump and Charlie Kirk, as well as dozens of state legislators and leaders across Arizona,” Biggs posted. “We intend to win and defeat Katie Hobbs in November, but the time for Republicans to unite behind our campaign is now.”
Democrats took Robson’s withdrawal Thursday as a sign of momentum.
“Karrin Taylor Robson saw the writing on the wall and knows that Gov. Katie Hobbs is going to win re-election because of her bipartisan record of lowering costs, securing the border, and protecting healthcare,” Hobbs’ campaign manager, Nicole DeMont, said in a statement to Politico. “No matter who emerges from this chaotic primary, we will stay focused on building a winning coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who believe in putting Arizona first.”
In a separate statement, the Democratic Governors Association spokesperson Sam Newton said, “Karrin Taylor Robson knows what Andy Biggs and David Schweikert will quickly learn: Arizonans want Governor Katie Hobbs to lead their state for another four years.”
“While Biggs and Schweikert duke it out in a nasty, expensive GOP primary, Gov. Hobbs is only going to continue earning support across party lines because she always puts Arizona first by lowering costs, creating jobs and securing the border,” the DGA’s statement concluded.
The Republican primary, which also includes Rep. David Schweikert, is scheduled for July 21.
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