Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs Wins Re-election, Defeating Republican Andy Biggs

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has won a second term leading Arizona, NBC News projects, turning back a challenge from Republican Rep. Andy Biggs in one of the nation's most closely contested battleground states.

Hobbs campaigned as a moderate in a state that backed Donald Trump by 5 percentage points in the 2024 presidential race. Her pitch to voters centered on border security and tax cuts, and she tapped John Giles, a former Republican who once served as mayor of Mesa, as her running mate for lieutenant governor.

"Whether you're a Democrat, independent or Republican, if you believe in protecting our freedoms and putting Arizona first, we're ready to fight for you," Hobbs said in a video revealing Giles as her pick.

The governor, who served as Arizona's secretary of state before taking the state's top office, also drew contrasts with Trump's agenda, pointing to the unpopular Iran war and his tariffs. During her first term, she put in place a three-year pause on tax incentives for data centers.

Her campaign emphasized bipartisan dealmaking, saying she had signed more than 900 pieces of bipartisan legislation. Biggs countered by highlighting the record number of vetoes Hobbs issued over her four years as governor. "She doesn't give in on anything, pretty much," Biggs told Fox News in October. "I'd be working with the Legislature, not against them."

Biggs, who once chaired the conservative House Freedom Caucus, also attacked Hobbs for declining to debate him. Hobbs dismissed such debates as "political theater" and had similarly refused to debate in 2022, when she beat Trump ally Kari Lake by about 17,000 votes. Lake later challenged that result in court and lost.

For her part, Hobbs went after Biggs over his support for Trump's tariffs, his votes against resolutions to end the Iran war, and his unwillingness to recognize Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. "Andy Biggs won't admit that I won in '22 or that Trump lost in 2020, and I think that it is dangerous and wrong," she said on a local radio program in July. "Arizonans have paid the cost of this election denial for a long time."

Pressed during the campaign about Hobbs' 2022 win, Biggs conceded that "every court has said she's won" and acknowledged that "she's the governor." Asked at the October debate Hobbs skipped whether he would accept this year's outcome regardless of the result, he replied: "Yeah, I will. I will accept the outcome." He added that he believes Arizona's elections are now more secure than they were in 2020 and said he would be "happy to certify the outcome of this election."

Trump's backing in the race shifted over time. He initially supported businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson when she entered the contest in early 2025, then also endorsed Biggs when the congressman joined the race later in the year. After Taylor Robson dropped out, Trump gave Biggs his "complete and total endorsement."