Arizona Gubernatorial Primary

Election 2026
To receive complete coverage of the midterms, sign up for our daily newsletter.

The Arizona gubernatorial race is considered a key bellwether of President Donald Trump’s popularity. The former President Joe Biden carried the state by just three-tenths of a point in 2020; four years later, Trump won it with a decisive 5.5-per-cent margin. The incumbent governor, Katie Hobbs, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. On the Republican side, the front-runner is Andy Biggs, a five-term congressman from Arizona’s Fifth District. Biggs, a prominent election denier, was investigated by the House Select Committee on January 6th over his role in promoting the Stop the Steal movement. (Biggs has denied any involvement in organizing the riot on the Capitol.) He has been endorsed by Trump, as well as other MAGA figures, such as Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz. Biggs’s main competitor is David Schweikert, an eight-term congressman. Schweikert has presented himself as a more moderate alternative to Biggs, criticizing him for his ties to far-right entities such as the Proud Boys. Also running are Ken Miceli, the C.E.O. of a construction company, and Scott Neely, the owner of a concrete-pumping company.

Arizona Fifth Congressional District

In the Republican primary in Arizona’s Fifth District, Mark Lamb, a former Arizona sheriff and 2024 candidate for the U.S. Senate, is the front-runner. He has received endorsements from Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. But a series of accusations of sexual impropriety has seemingly narrowed the race. According to an investigation by the Arizona Republic, Lamb, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had been sexually active outside of his marriage for years. A former staff member, and at least three women, alleged knowledge of Lamb’s affairs. He is also accused of using his position as sheriff to silence women with whom he exchanged explicit messages. Lamb has denied the accusations, and an investigation by the Pinal County attorney cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing. His leading challenger is Daniel Keenan, a construction-company founder and a former forklift operator.

On the Democratic side, Elizabeth Lee, a nurse; Chris James, a former Treasury Department official and the president of a nonprofit that supports Indigenous-owned small businesses; and Brian Hualde, a former Army medic and a nurse practitioner, are all running.