Karrin Taylor Robson suspended her campaign for Arizona Governor, upending what was setting up to be a three-way heavyweight battle alongside Congressmen Andy Biggs and David Schweikert.
Thank you, Arizona ❤️ pic.twitter.com/htJcrtMsSX
— Karrin Taylor Robson for AZ Gov (@KTaylorRobson) February 12, 2026
In her statement, Robson said Arizona “…cannot Afford a divisive republican primary that drains resources and turns into months of intraparty attacks. 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.”
In another world, Donald Trump doesn’t endorse Kari Lake for Governor in 2022 and Karrin Taylor Robson wins the Republican primary before cruising to a general election victory over an outmatched Katie Hobbs. By 2026 she is running for re-election against a dispirited Democratic Party.
Except Trump did endorse Lake, who went on to lose the general election, and Robson was left to try again in 2026, this time with Trump’s endorsement. But Trump again unended her campaign by later endorsing Biggs, and making the primary very competitive. Schweikert entered the race several months later and, after an aggressive campaign start that saw him up on TV much earlier than most, the path to the nomination appears to have gotten too expensive or divisive for Robson’s taste.
“Robson could still win, but she’s smart enough to know that she would have to go nuclear against Biggs and the fallout from that would linger into the November general election.” explained one Arizona campaign consultant. “Biggs’ proxies have been attacking Robson for months and they definitely did damage, but it seemed like she was waiting to fire back until the election was closer. That may not have been a good strategy.”
It is too soon to predict the effort of her withdrawal on the other candidates. Biggs is seen as a beneficiary because he is now the only candidate with Trump’s endorsement, which he pointed out in his own post on X.
I want to thank Karrin Taylor Robson for a well-run campaign and for her many contributions to keeping our state red. Her experience as a businesswoman brought a valuable perspective to the race and her deep love for Arizona and its future has always been evident. Cindy and I… https://t.co/sLhNFG8Azn
— Andy Biggs (@andybiggs4az) February 12, 2026
“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. We intend to win and defeat Katie Hobbs in November, but the time for Republicans to unite behind our campaign is now.” wrote Biggs.
But Biggs’ hard-charging opponent, David Schweikert, is not going anywhere. “Schweikert is the immediate beneficiary of Robson’s withdrawal” said another Republican operative, who said that Biggs’ base of support was smaller than most people thought, and that Schweikert’s general election strength would be an important factor for Republican voters when the pick their nominee. “Lake blew the last race and she did that with fantastic retail skills and no voting record. By comparison, Biggs is hardly a people person and he has a very long voting record that will drag him down in a competitive general election. Republicans picked the wrong candidate last time, and have in quite a few recent Arizona races, so they may have learned their lesson, and that would be good for Schweikert.”
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