Stage set for showdown between Andy Biggs and Gov. Katie Hobbs

Congressman Andy Biggs walked away with the Republican nomination Tuesday, picking up more than four times as many votes as fellow U.S. Rep. David Schweikert. In fact, Biggs was gathering more votes than Schweikert, as well as Scott Neely and Ken Miceli, the other two Republicans in the race, combined.

That strong showing is important if Biggs is to unite the party in a bid to oust Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November.

Data prepared by his staff, seeking to emphasize that point, shows that his percentage of the votes in Tuesday's primary was higher than tallied by any other GOP non-incumbent going back to 1986.

Perhaps most significant is that Kari Lake managed to get the Republican nomination in 2022 with less than 48% of the votes cast. That lack of backing showed up at the general election when the record shows many GOP voters went to the polls but would not cast a ballot for Lake, allowing Hobbs to win by 17,117 votes.

Biggs noted his margin in a written statement. "Our goal has always been to unite the Republican Party and we've done that as much as any nominee in recent memory," he said.

There was no immediate comment from Schweikert.

Incumbent Hobbs, who had no opponent in Tuesday's primary, responded to Biggs' nomination by releasing a new video designed to show what her campaign is calling his "cost-hiking, extreme record in Washington."

It cites Biggs' support of getting rid of federal income, payroll and gift taxes and replacing them with a national 23% federal sales tax, a plan Hobbs' spokesman Michael Beyer said "would make everyday essentials even more expensive for Arizona families."

Biggs' press aide Drew Sexton did not shy away from the plan, saying the GOP contender has supported pro-grown policies and will work to eliminate the state sales tax if elected.

Hobbs' video also focuses on a vote Biggs took in Congress against bipartisan legislation that sought to require state and local authorities to conduct comprehensive inventories of their rape kits to reduce the national backlog, a move it says amounted to "letting predators go free."

And he was only one of two members of a U.S. House oversight subcommittee that voted against releasing the Epstein files.

Biggs is prepared with his own attacks on Hobbs' record as governor, saying she is a prime reason that home prices are so high.

He has connected that with a directive from the Arizona Department of Water Resources, under the governor's control, which halted new home construction in some sections of the Phoenix metro area due to lack of groundwater. And he said the Arizona Land Department, also within the purview of Hobbs, has failed to make property available for development.

There also is the unresolved question of whether Hobbs was involved in a "pay-to-play'' scheme involving a large mid-contract increase in the amount paid to Sunshine Residential to house foster children. The company and its owner had contributed $100,000 to the governor's 2023 inaugural ball — money that went into a campaign fund — and another $300,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party.

Hobbs has denied any wrongdoing. But there are ongoing investigations, including one by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, who has said she has been unable to arrange an interview with the governor.

Mayes has promised to have a report ahead of the November election. The status of a separate probe by Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is unknown.

And in a related issue, Hobbs vetoed legislation earlier this year that would have provided better public disclosure of the financial donations of those who are seeking state contracts.

The attacks by both sides are aimed mainly at convincing the political independents who make up more than a third of the state's 4.3 million registered voters and could provide the margin of victory for a winner.

But there will be more than just Biggs and Hobbs on the ballot.

Teri Ann Hourihan appears headed to be the candidate of the No Labels Party.

There are only about 46,000 No Labels adherents. But the nomination would give her an equal slot on the ballot with Hobbs and Biggs. And regardless of what people think of Hourihan, that provides voters with what could be a "none-of-the-above" option.

Hourihan waged a low-key campaign to defeat Hugh Lytle, a Scottsdale businessman who had been the hand-picked choice of party Chairman Paul Johnson, relying largely on social media posts.

What could pose a risk for Hobbs is that many of those posts had attacked the governor, including several about the more than 500 vetoes the incumbent racked up since taking office in 2023. 

Also on the ballot will be Green Party candidate Risa Lombardo, who ran unopposed.

On the cost of all this, Hobbs, who did not have a primary, currently has about $1 million more in the bank than Biggs after already spending more than $11 million on the race. But she also has a planned fundraiser for donors to be hosted by Cindy McCain, wife of Republican former U.S. Sen. John McCain.

Biggs, however, has been getting outside financial backing from Turning Point, which under state law is able to run commercials for him — and against his foes — as long as it does not coordinate with him.

And even before he was nominated, he had the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

The question of how — and if — that helps him could be linked to the president's own fortunes, which have been increasingly buffeted by the war in Iran and the resultant fallout in things like higher gasoline prices.