Andy Biggs

Arizona Republicans in July will decide who gets their party's nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs for her job in November.

Two congressmen — both longtime conservatives — have grabbed the most attention in the race so far.

Rep. Andy Biggs has emerged as the GOP frontrunner, leading in all publicly available polling and far outpacing his congressional colleague Rep. David Schweikert when it comes to campaign fundraising. There are two lesser-known Republicans in the race, Scott Neely and Ken Miceli, who have been largely unable to stand out with the focus on their congressional competitors.

Arizona's smaller political parties, including the Green Party and No Labels Party, also will hold primary elections this summer. Those parties together count 1% of Arizona voters, often making their primaries more sleepy affairs, although this year, one race has included accusations of a sham candidate just trying to split votes.

The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com have been covering the race and Hobbs' tenure in office. Here's an update and links to articles that can help you decide who gets your vote. Ballots go out and early voting begins on June 24.

Republicans

Andy Biggs

Biggs, of Gilbert, has represented Arizona's 5th Congressional District in the southeast Valley since 2016. Biggs has easily won November elections in the reliably red district over the past decade, and the race for governor could be his most competitive yet if he secures the GOP nomination in July.

On the campaign trail, Biggs is known to frequently tout his friendship and frequent phone calls with President Donald Trump. Biggs is a close ally of the president's and in Congress objected to Trump's loss in 2020. Trump has endorsed Biggs' bid for governor.

Biggs is a former leader of the House Freedom Caucus, the chamber's most conservative flank.

Before Arizonans sent Biggs to Washington, D.C., he was elected to the state Legislature for seven terms in both the House of Representatives and Senate. Biggs was chosen by his peers as Senate president in 2012 and held the role until his departure for Congress four years later.

He has a decades-long record of conservative votes to oppose tax increases and shrink the size of government. As a state lawmaker, in 2011 he proposed curtailing Medicaid enrollment to fewer than 100,000 Arizonans (at the time the program served about 1.3 million people). He also supported the controversial immigration enforcement bill now known as Senate Bill 1070.

Latest coverage:

Mixed message: Biggs hits Hobbs over interviews — but dodges some himself

Trump weighs in: President says Biggs would be “great” in governor’s race

Money gap:Biggs builds advantage as GOP rivals compete for resources

Pain at the pump: High prices put affordability front and center in race

Why she leads: Hobbs ahead of Biggs, Schweikert in matchups

2020 still looms: Past efforts to challenge results shape 2026 contest

Field clears: Biggs emerges as GOP front-runner after rival exits

Federal oversight fight: Biggs pushes to end sheriff’s office monitoring

Fallout grows: Arizona Republicans condemn racist chat remarks

Shifting ground:Some Republicans changed positions on Epstein files as pressure mounted

National divide: Trump Guard plan splits Arizona governor candidates

Early stakes: Top Republicans ramp up ads, fundraising a year out

Double endorsement: Trump throws support behind Biggs and Taylor Robson

David Schweikert

Schweikert has represented Arizona's 1st Congressional District of Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and the northeast Valley for 16 years. He's held the seat despite the district growing increasingly competitive for Democrats after redistricting in 2020.

Schweikert is a deficit hawk known for lengthy, detailed speeches delving into the minutiae of federal government spending. He's a devout free-market advocate. His stint in Washington, D.C., saw him admit to 11 ethical violations for not disclosing loans or contributions, improper spending by his office and other violations. He was reprimanded and agreed to a $50,000 fine.

While Schweikert has at times questioned Trump's policies, like tariffs, he has also been a loyal vote for the president's priorities. And he objected to counting the 2020 presidential election results from Pennsylvania, another swing state that, like Arizona, narrowly went for Democrat Joe Biden that year.

Before Arizona voters sent him to Washington, D.C., in 2010, he was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives and Maricopa County treasurer.

Latest coverage:

Money gap:Biggs builds advantage as GOP rivals compete for resources

GOP clash: Schweikert vows to keep up attacks despite pushback

Pain at the pump: High prices put affordability front and center in race

Why she leads: Hobbs ahead of Biggs, Schweikert in matchups

2020 still looms: Past efforts to challenge results shape 2026 contest

Next phase: Primary becomes Biggs vs. Schweikert showdown

Fallout grows: Arizona Republicans condemn racist chat remarks

Shifting ground:Some Republicans changed positions on Epstein files as pressure mounted

National divide: Trump Guard plan splits Arizona governor candidates

Crowded field: What's Schweikert lane Arizona governor’s race?

Electability case: Schweikert launches bid for Arizona governor

Ken Miceli

Miceli is a Scottsdale resident who owns his own business, Advanced Painting & Contracting. The company specializes in repainting homes, often working for homeowners associations and commercial buildings. His contractor's license is in good standing with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. Miceli's other businesses have included Accent Painting & Construction and Miceli Construction Group.

Miceli has not reported any income in his gubernatorial campaign.

Scott Neely

Neely runs a trio of businesses that pump and finish concrete and sell concrete supplies across the country. His campaign headquarters is his brick-and-mortar shop, Action Concrete Pumping Supply, on Southern Avenue in Mesa. The small business employs 17 people.

Neely has not held elected office before. He previously ran for governor in 2022 but came in fourth in the five-way Republican primary, and he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Mesa two years later.

He has said he believes the 2020 election was stolen and furthered other conspiracies, including that the World Health Organization was trying to use the COVID-19 pandemic to take power from individual nations.

Latest coverage:

Long-shot candidate: Scott Neely enters crowded GOP governor race

No Labels

Hugh Lytle

Lytle is a health-care company founder who most recently led Equality Health. The Scottsdale-based company with a staff of 250 works with health plans and patients to provide and coordinate care, focusing on prevention and addressing other influences on health — like food insecurity — to reduce costs.

Lytle has not run for office before, but has put at least $1 million of his own wealth behind his campaign he has framed as giving voters disgruntled with both major political parties a third, independent option. He has called the current two-party system toxic.

His father, Ben Lytle, is the founder of one of the nation's largest health insurance companies, now called Elevance Health.

Latest coverage:

Ballot battle: Lawsuits aim to block Lytle from ballot

New contender: Hugh Lytle enters governor’s race

Teri Hourihan

Hourihan is a licensed professional counselor and has been since 2017. She owns her own business, Teri's Health Services, which offers behavioral health-care services. At its largest, the business counted 250 employees, but after a state crackdown on Medicaid fraud in 2023, employment dropped to 19, she said.

She has been in recovery from drug and alcohol use for nearly 18 years, and has said that and her grievances with how the government and courts handled her health-care business are driving her campaign.

Green Party

Risa Lombardo

Lombardo is a retiree who previously did clerical work for Phoenix law firms. The most notable moment of her campaign so far was the Green Party condemning it. The party raised concerns that Lombardo was a sham candidate, saying she was a Republican just trying to split votes.

Reporting by The Arizona Mirror showed Lombardo was a Republican precinct committeeperson just days before she filed paperwork indicating her interest in running for governor as a Green Party candidate. Lombardo told the news organization and Phoenix New Times her candidacy was legitimate and she had also previously voted as a Democrat.

William Pounds

Pounds said on his campaign website that he is an "engineer and scientist," but said in an email he did "multiple engineering and science projects" for Shiva Ayyadurai, an election conspiracist who reviewed Maricopa County ballots after the 2020 election as part of the controversial Senate "audit."

Pounds said he is a livestreamer who has also worked as a caregiver. His interest in caregiving stemmed from being removed from his own family as a child, Pounds said, and he hoped to change what he saw as an abusive system from the inside.

He reported no sources of income on a financial disclosure statement required to run for office. He said he has taken a vow of poverty and, if elected, would donate his gubernatorial salary to address the "human and governmental failure of homelessness."

Pounds has run before, winning 139 votes as a write-in candidate for governor in 2022.

Democrat

Katie Hobbs

Hobbs was narrowly elected Arizona governor in 2022 and is asking voters for a second term. She does not have a primary challenger, clearing her path to November's election.

A former lobbyist and social worker with a background working for domestic violence shelters, Hobbs won the Governor's Office after standing up to Trump's false claims about election fraud. Hobbs was secretary of state, Arizona's top election official, at the time. She previously was a state lawmaker who served eight years in the House of Representatives and Senate.

In her first term as governor, Hobbs rolled out programs erasing medical debt for 485,000 Arizonans and repealed a pre-statehood abortion ban after the Arizona Supreme Court said the law could be enforced. She has won significant investments for the state's housing affordability and child-care programs in the state's annual budgets.

But her tenure is also notable for what she has blocked. In her four years in office, Hobbs has vetoed more than 450 bills that have landed on her desk after passing the Republican-majority Legislature.

Her administration also has been scrutinized for its ties to special-interest groups and their legislation. Hobbs split from some Democrats in supporting a tax package to upgrade Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and signed a bill that greenlights Taser-maker Axon's corporate campus in Scottsdale — while thwarting voters who wanted to have a say on the plans.

And her ties to Sunshine Residential Homes, a major donor to Hobbs that also has a state contract to care for children in the child welfare system, are the subject of three ongoing investigations.

Latest coverage: