Karrin Taylor Robson, an attorney and business executive with ties to the state’s GOP establishment, launched a second run for governor of Arizona on Wednesday — this time with Donald Trump’s backing.
Her bid comes roughly three years after she lost a brutal Republican governor primary to Kari Lake in a race that drew national attention because of Lake’s personal and nasty attacks on Robson. In 2022, Lake had Trump’s endorsement.
“I will fight every day alongside President Trump for stronger borders, a stronger economy, and a stronger Arizona,” Robson wrote in a release that mentioned the president’s name a dozen times.
Trump offered Robson an endorsement before she entered the race when he visited Phoenix in December 2024. “You’re going to have my support,” Trump said of Robson.
It was a comment that drew sharp criticism from the hard-liners in Arizona’s Republican Party, who feel Robson is not conservative enough. And Robson will have a primary once again. Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, a former chair of the House Freedom Caucus and Trump ally, is collecting signatures to run.
Robson has a long history in Arizona. She served as vice president of a real estate development company based in the state and later opened up her own land-use consulting company. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey appointed Robson to the state’s Board of Regents in 2017 and she remained there until she resigned to run for governor in 2021. Ducey endorsed her bid, turning the primary with Lake into something of a proxy battle between himself and Trump.
Lake ran an underfunded campaign against Robson, who invested millions of her family’s wealth into her run. Lake accused Robson of “trying to buy the election with her 95-yr-old husband’s millions.” (Robson’s husband, Ed, is a real estate developer.) Lake also attacked followers of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and accused another primary rival of being “OK with special needs kids being” sexually assaulted.
As Lake ran for Senate in 2024, she tried to make amends with Robson and eventually earned her endorsement. Trump named Lake to lead the Voice of America.
Robson hopes to oust Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Hobbs is among the most vulnerable governors up for reelection in 2026. She only narrowly won the office four years ago and Trump won Arizona last November.
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