Grace Panetta

Politics Reporter

Published

Updated

A competitive race for governor is shaping up in Arizona. 

Once a reliably Republican stronghold, Arizona has emerged as a critical battleground state in the Trump era. 

In 2020, Joe Biden narrowly flipped the state to the Democratic column by 10,000 votes. In the 2022 midterms, Democrats won competitive races for U.S. Senate, governor and attorney general, making Arizona a rare state with a slate of Democratic statewide elected officials and a Republican-controlled state legislature. In 2024, Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego won his seat as President Donald Trump carried the state in the presidential election by over five points. 

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, elected in 2022 formally launched her reelection campaign on October 8. 

On the Republican side, Trump has endorsed Rep. Andy Biggs, a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus. GOP Rep. David Schweikert, a longtime elected official who represents a competitive Phoenix-area congressional district, also jumped into the race on September 30. Karrin Taylor Robson, an attorney and businessperson who unsuccessfully ran in the 2024 Republican primary for U.S. Senate, dropped out of the race February 12.

Governors and state legislatures have become increasingly important and visible as the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress have delegated policymaking on abortion, child care, LGBTQ+ rights and more to the states. Arizona has been subject to a back-and-forth whiplash in its abortion laws after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal right to abortion in 2022. In 2024, the legislature repealed a pre-statehood 1864 abortion ban after a court decision temporarily allowed the law to take effect. In the 2024 election, Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to abortion in the state. 

In all, 36 governorships are up in 2026. Five Democratic-led states won by Trump in 2024 (Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) are holding elections for governor in 2026, while two Republican governors in states won by former Vice President Kamala Harris (New Hampshire and Vermont) are up for reelection.