AZ Polling is in!

OK.  Only for R primary races.  And then only for statewide offices.

From KPNX, written by Brahm Resnik, dated 7/9 -

Andy Biggs dominates, Tom Horne trails in new poll of Arizona GOP primaries

Just 12 days before Arizona’s primary election, a new poll shows the Republican statewide races falling into three categories: one clear winner, three clear front-runners and one competitive race that could end School Superintendent Tom Horne’s political career.

The flash poll, by Arizona-based NextGen Polling, surveyed 1,707 high-frequency Republican primary voters who have cast a ballot in three or four of the last four elections. The poll, done July 8 and 9, has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. 

[snip] {Governor}

East Valley Congressman Andy Biggs has built an insurmountable polling lead over fellow Congressman David Schweikert of Fountain Hills. Biggs was supported by 66.1% of respondents vs 10.4% for Schweikert. Schweikert is losing his own 1st Congressional District by 41 points, 56.2% to 14.8%, according to the poll.

[snip] {SOS}

In the primary to serve as Arizona’s chief elections officer,  State Rep. Alexander Kolodin of Scottsdale has a 24-point lead over former Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda. Kolodin is up 44% to 20%, with 36% of respondents undecided.

[snip] {AG}

Senate President Warren Petersen of Gilbert leads lawyer Rodney Glassman of Phoenix by 15 points, 43% to 28%, with about 29% of respondents undecided.

[snip] {SPI}

In the most competitive statewide primary, incumbent Tom Horne finds himself trailing State Treasurer Kimberly Yee by 8 points, according to the NextGen poll. Yee leads Horne by 44% to 36%, with 20 percent of respondents undecided. 

[snip] {Treasurer}

Elijah Norton, CEO of a company that sells extended vehicle warranties, leads State Board of Education Chair Katherine Haley 43% to 20%, according to the poll. 

NextGen Polling took a poll in June; ad that one shows that the leaders in the races widening their leads in July over what they had June.  With one exception.

Gov. - Biggs 57%, Schweikert 11%

AG - Petersen 26%, Glassman 11%

SOS - Kolodin 16%,, Swoboda 11%

Treasurer - Norton 15%, Haley 12%

SPI - Horne 33%, Yee 24%

No real surprises here, though  I hoped that they would cover legislative races (including Democratic primaries) and the CorpComm race.

At this point, there's only one primary poll left, and it's the only one that counts.

Legislative Republicans nearly pull off the impossible...

...of course, they failed, but they were negotiating with themselves.

When doing that, it's kind of hard to pull off failure, but legislative Republicans achieved that.

Taking cues from someone who isn't involved doesn't seem to help.

From AZMirror, written by Jerod Macdonald-Evoy, dated 6/29/2026 -

School voucher special session deal is likely dead in the water

A plan by Republican lawmakers to call a special session of the Arizona Legislature to strike a deal with the state’s largest teachers union to kill a ballot initiative aimed at the school voucher program is likely dead in the water. 

In the final hours of the annual legislative session just three weeks ago, Republican lawmakers pushed through a ballot referral that, if approved by voters, would nullify the two citizen-led initiatives aimed at regulating the state’s billion-dollar school voucher program, formally known as the Empowerment Scholarship Account program. 

[snip]

Some long-time ESA advocates are continuing to push for what is now being called the “Biggs plan,” named after Republican Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, despite signals from the ninth floor that the governor will not agree to that deal. 

Note: this headline was written before signature were due; they're now in, and "likely dead" has become "is dead."

Legislative Democrats noticed, and had something to say.

From their press release -

Legislative Dems Statement on Republican Special Session Failure on ESAs and Ballot Measures Attacking Educators, Fire Fighters and Law Enforcement

Senate Democratic Leader Priya Sundareshan and House Democratic Leader Oscar De Los Santos released the following statement regarding the Republican failure – announced today via social media – to come together on a special session to pass modest ESA voucher reforms and to claw back misleading ballot referrals attacking public schools, educators, firefighters and law enforcement.

"Republicans created this mess by rushing harmful and misleading ballot referrals through the Legislature, including an attack on teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and other public employees who wish to join a union and negotiate the terms of their employment. Today, they had the opportunity to come together and work with Democrats to pull back these rushed and ill-considered reforms and once again, they failed Arizona.

[snip]

What we saw today was a failure of leadership from Republicans in both chambers. While Speaker Montenegro and President Petersen stated they were negotiating in good faith – we now know the truth. There will be no special session. Instead, Republicans backtracked on the terms of a deal which were not only widely reported, but which they themselves put together.

The Arizona Education Association (AEA) noticed, too.

From their press release -

Arizona Labor Unions and Allies Slam “Biggs Deal” that Hurts Working Families and Enshrines Voucher Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in the Arizona Constitution

Today, labor unions and allied groups representing hundreds of thousands of working families, parents, and educators across Arizona released the following statement slamming Legislative Republicans for backing away from bipartisan voucher reforms in support of a so-called “Biggs Deal” that would block basic guardrails for the scandal-plagued ESA voucher program and risk millions of dollars in funding for Arizona school districts by keeping SCR 1032 on the ballot: 

"The Biggs deal is a non-starter that would be horrible for students, educators, parents, and working families across Arizona. When Republican lawmakers approached us with an offer to pass common-sense voucher reforms and drop their three disastrous referrals (HCR 2040, SCR 1032, and HCR 2048), we were open to good-faith discussions. After Biggs and his extremist allies intervened, their involvement left the Republican caucus divided and unable to negotiate in a serious or constructive way. We are no longer willing to participate in what has become a political circus.

My guess is that what happened here is that legislative Republicans floated the special session rumor and offered a one-sided "deal" (one where they gave up nothing while the other parties to the deal gave up all), and when the other parties didn't play their game, brought in Andy Biggs and his merry bunch anti-society cutthroats to take the blame for their own failure.

R Governor primary debate

The Committee to Re-elect Katie Hobbs met on Wednesday, 6/17.  They tried to be clever about though and called it a debate between the Republican candidates for governor.

Seriously, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission sponsored the debate; all of their debates can be found here.

Other observers termed the debate "tame."

Note: I won't use too many quotes in this; most of the things I found most objectionable were typical R talking points/social positions.  Though there will be exceptions to the "no quotes" things, but only one candidate, Scott Neely, embraced his inner wingnut - he started discoursing on robots taking over the economy.

First up: a pic of the person they all wish to depose as Governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs:

The candidates in the R primary, from the Arizona Secretary of State -

One thing was clear: they're all Republicans, and agree on a few things -

All want to lower taxes and regulations facing businesses.

All despise any programs that benefit average Arizonans but want to expand welfare for the wealthy in the form of school vouchers/ESAs.

All blame Joe Biden for most of the bad things facing AZ, including inflation (Cheeto was mentioned by name just a couple of times, and then only in laudatory terms - it was as if they knew he'd be a heavy weight around the neck on the nominee in the general election, but in the primary, they're seeking the votes of folks who worship him)

Water in  AZ:: There's no water shortage here, just a perception problem.  Otherwise, everything's fine.

[edit on 6/20 to add]

They're all campaigning on a MAGA platform, where MAGA means "Make Arizona Great Again".

[/end edit]

Candidates Ken Miceli and Scott Neely were unabashed about wanting to be governor to enhance their businesses.

Miceli mumbled a lot and gave off a "just happy to be here" vibe.  My guess is that he'll be fortunate to exceed 1% of the primary vote.

Neely was better and more experienced (he ran for governor in 2022).  He received less than 26K votes in 2022; he may surpass that total in 2026 but will still garner fewer than 50K votes.

Current member of Congress David Schweikert likes to use numbers and figures to justify the same old R talking points, but in a "if you can't dazzle 'em with footwork, baffle 'em with bullshit" way.

At the 16:21 mark of the video, he stated, to rationalize his support of new housing projects, "If an acre of homes, particularly if it's an acre of homes that goes that goes into where agriculture was, you actually end up with excess water supply."

My guess is that he'll come in 2nd in the primary; he may actually be running for the Lieutenant Governor spot on the ticket.

That leaves current member of Congress Andy Biggs.

I believe that he's going to win this particular primary, and it's evident that he does, too.

He tried to present himself as a reasonable person with a history of "working across the aisle."

Of course, being Biggs, it should come as no surprise that a couple of the examples that he cited may qualify as "own goals."

One example he cited was his work with former Senator and Representative Kyrsten Sinema.

Problem: she so despised Democrats (and, to be fair, many Democrats despised her in turn) that she changed her voting registration to nonaffiliated.  Last seen: lobbying (unsuccessfully, as it turned out) for a data center.

Another example he cited was working with the late Senator John McCain.

Problem: while he was a decent human being, he was not a Democrat.

The fact that Biggs thinks of working with a decent human being as "working across the aisle" says much about his personal character.

Republican voters shouldn't be worried though - he is still pandering to them.

At approximately 27:55 of the video, he proposed ending AZ's income tax and paying for it by going after fraud in Medicaid, Indian Health Services, and the Medicaid expansion program and selling off other assets like state trust lands.

He, like the others, glossed over fraud in the ESA program.

At 42:28, he observed "the reason you're hearing about it is that they're catching people that fraudulently use ESAs.

There's also tremendous fraud in {garbled} traditional system that we have to come in and find out and get that and stop that."

Evidently, providing facts is so not necessary in R primaries; only assertions are needed.

The next debates I'll watch are the CD1 debates - I'll watch the Democratic debate because I really don't know who I'm going to vote for, and I'll watch the R debate because I expect it to be entertaining.

Short Attention Span Musing: odds and ends edition

...One prediction: Congressman Paul Gosar (R-CD9) not only doesn't run for reelection in 2028, my guess is that he won't make it to 2028 as a member of Congress.

He spoke at a Turning Point USA fundraiser in Phoenix this past week, and he looked distinctly unwell.

This picture is from a video posted to Bluesky. I think the video may be on the website of Fox10 Phoenix, but I won't link to Faux News or any of its affiliates, so I advise readers who wish to view it to look it up themselves.

Assuming readers locate the video, they should ignore the words and focus on the physical and verbal tics (ignoring the words is easy - he's a nutjob.  He opened his speech by equating Cheeto to a god.)

Some folks online speculated that he has Parkinson's and others speculated that he might have been intoxicated.  I don't think he was intoxicated.  As for Parkinson's, I'm not a doctor (and wouldn't trust one who diagnosed someone based only on a video) and won't speculate.

If my prediction proves to be accurate and he doesn't run for reelection in 2028, once he's no longer a member of Congress or even a candidate, his title of "biggest bigot in Arizona politics" will go to someone else.  I'm leaning toward Congressman Eli Crane, but there other contenders for that title (this being AZ, there are *many* other contenders for that particular title.)

The district will almost certainly go to another Republican - the district is overwhelmingly Republican.

Voter registration numbers from the Arizona Secretary of State -

...In the fall elections, at least one Biggs will probably win (no, not Andy Biggs in his quest to defeat incumbent Governor Katie Hobbs).  Mylie Biggs, Andy Biggs' daughter, is running for the State Senate seat in LD14.  As she's unopposed in the primary and while she faces a Democratic opponent in the general, that district is also overwhelmingly R, so she'll almost certainly win the seat.

...Tyler Farmsworth, who may or may not be related current state senator David Farnsworth or former legislator Eddie Farnsworth (I couldn't find any definitive links indicating a close relationship...and "Farnsworth" is a common last name if that part of Maricopa County) is running for a State Representative seat in that same LD14.

While there's a contest in the primary (three candidates for two seats), the district is still overwhelmingly R, and the R primary winners there will almost certainly win in the general.

...In the "RFK Jr. must be so happy" department: Measles hasn't gone away.

From Arizona Department of Health Services -

Actually, the information on the state page is somewhat out of date.  It was last updated on 4/14/2026 and shows Maricopa County as having five cases.  On 4/17, the Arizona Medical Association broke news of a sixth case here.

Get vaccinated.

Schweikert bashes Biggs, and the Maricopa County Republicans remind people

Including me, because I generally avoid paying attention to the internal R machinations.

From Arizona's Family, written by staff and Dennis Welch -

Phoenix-area GOP reignites controversy in Republican governor’s race

A controversy that Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Andy Biggs hoped would fade has returned to the headlines after his own party stepped in.

About a month ago, Biggs found himself the target of a political attack. His Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Rep. David Schweikert, accused him of palling around with racists and anti-Semites. Biggs denied it and moved on.

But it was his own Republican Party that brought it back.

Also from Arizona's Family -

I don't claim to know how this all will play out, but two things seem obvious -

1. Observers should get out their popcorn, as this promises to be entertaining.

2. They should get out their seatbelts, too, as 2026 promises to be a bumpy ride.

This all does beg one question -

What is Schweikert thinking?  

Accusing Biggs of being a white supremacist won't exactly change the minds of the voters in an R primary, aka the people he needs to reach.  It seems to help Biggs more than it does Schweikert.

Biggs claims that he will vote to release the Epstein files

I recommend filing that one under "believe it when you see it."

From KJZZ, written by Wayne Schutsky,

Biggs says he will vote to release the Epstein files

Congressman Andy Biggs says he will vote to release the Epstein files despite efforts by President Donald Trump to keep lawmakers from forcing the Justice Department to disclose the records.

Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced a petition in July to force a vote on their bill, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson, who would not bring the legislation to a vote.

Biggs is a Cheeto-endorsed 2026 candidate for AZ governor and he wouldn't do this without specific permission from Cheeto himself.

Which Cheeto probably wouldn't give unless he thought that the Epstein files couldn't hurt him - if the files are released, all references to him will certainly be edited out by his pets in the DOJ.

Of course, if his DOJ can't release falsified files (I'm guessing that someone, perhaps Vlad, had evidence tying Cheeto to Epstein, and will counter any false story), he'll simply veto any legislation that Congress passes re: releasing the Epstein files.

That sound you hear is shoes dropping in multiple CDs

...Expect more "names" to enter these races (and more)...

- the former sheriff of Pinal County, Mark Lamb, has filed a Statement of Interest (SOI) with the AZSOS for a run at replacing Andy Biggs in CD5.

...as was widely expected, the current chair of the AZGOP, Gina Swoboda has throw her hat in the CD1 race to replace David Schweikert - she's formed a committee with the FEC -

Both Biggs and Schweikert are running for AZ Governor.

Arizona Mirror has stories up on Lamb and Swoboda.

CD1 Update: Schweikert's out; now what?

Incumbent R Congressman David Schweikert has withdrawn from his bid for reelection to Congress, and instead, will enter the R primary for governor of Arizona.

From AZMirror, written by Caitlin Sievers -

David Schweikert abandons Congress to enter Arizona governor’s race

Longtime Republican U.S. Rep. David Schweikert has dropped his congressional reelection bid to run for Arizona governor. 

Schweikert, who is in his eighth term in Congress, will join U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson in the Republican primary to determine who will face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in the 2026 general election. 

Schweikert told the Arizona Republic that he was tired of the struggle to get anything accomplished in Congress and worried that Robson couldn’t win the primary and Biggs couldn’t defeat Hobbs, who narrowly beat Republican Kari Lake to take the Governor’s Office in 2022. 

To date, 16 total folks have filed statements of interest (SOI) with the AZSOS in running for the CD1 seat, 12 Ds, 4 Rs (though I expect that those figures will increase shortly).  Not everyone who file an SOI will actually run - for example, Schweikert filed one for CD1 in February.

As of this writing, he hasn't filed one for governor, nor has he formed a committee for such a run.

Schweikert said that his reason for leaving Congress was the "struggle."

Betcha the real reason was that he knew he was vulnerable to challengers in both the congressional primary and general elections.

While his run for governor is something of a longshot, he's got more a chance there if Karrin Taylor Robson and Andy Biggs go after the same voters and end up canceling out each other.

Will Republican David Schweikert (AZCD1) run for governor?

Part of my Sunday morning routine is to watch Sunday Square Off at 8 a.m. on KPNX (Phoenix channel 12), with Brahm Resnick.

Today, they reported a rumor that current CD1 Congressman, David Schweikert, is looking at running for AZ Governor..  The rumor was originally floated by Schweikert and later confirmed by his camp.

My guess is that it's not going to happen - if he differentiates himself by running as MAGA-lite, he'll be smoked in the MAGA-dominated R primary, and if he embraces his inner MAGAt, the MAGA types won't believe him and will vote for Karrin Taylor Robson or Andy Biggs anyway, both being endorsed by Cheeto.

Having said all that, I agree with the R member of the panel on the show, who opined the Schweikert may have sending a message to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

The message being that they'll need to spend some money in order to retain the seat.

More interesting was the speculation that he may retire completely - while he's thought of as vulnerable, he's been in one office or another since 1991 and he's 63 - he may simply not to want to deal with hassle of running for office.

He personally is considered to be vulnerable (he has some ethical issues), the district, while not overwhelmingly R, isn't actually that competitive.

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

Arizona politics is like a small town - another Biggs is a candidate for office

Mylie Biggs (R-Chip Off The Old Block) is a candidate for the state senate seat in LD14, currently held by Senate President Warren Petersen, termed out and running for Arizona Attorney General.

She's the daughter of Andy Biggs, a MAGA Congressman and 2026 candidate for AZ Governor.

From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State:

Her Statement of Interest (SOI) -

.Her committee information -

As of this writing, no other R has filed an SOI or formed a committee in order to challenge her in the primary (I expect that to change as the cycle goes on).

Given the overwhelming R registration advantage in the district, the victor in the R primary should win the general election.

However, she's made things interesting.

From KJZZ, written by Camryn Sanchez -

Biggs’ daughter said women shouldn’t hold public office. But she’s running for AZ state Senate

Congressman Andy Biggs’ daughter Mylie said women shouldn’t hold public office. But she’s running for a seat in the Arizona Senate.

Mylie Biggs, 25, is running for the Legislature in Arizona’s 14th legislative district, which encompasses most of Gilbert.

Last August, she appeared on a podcast called The Matt MacCurdy Program and said she thinks women should not hold office in general, but instead should run the home.

Assuming that she goes on to be victorious in the primary, she seems to be ready for membership in the R caucus -

She's already got "open hypocrite" part down pat.

Normally, this sort of hypocrisy would be disqualifying in a Democratic primary.

In an R primary?  This may help her coast to victory.

Andy Biggs, doing AZ proud. Again.

The man who would be governor getting his hate on both for brown people and the judicial branch at the same time.

Maybe it's an attempt to show R primary voters that he's capable of multitasking.

From a post on Bluesky (because I refuse to link to Faux News if another option is available) -

No surprises among AZ's Congressional delegation when voting for Cheeto's budget.

The Republican members all favored gutting Medicaid, SNAP, science and everything except bigotry/ICE.  Basically, take from the poor, give to the rich, and in an effort to distract the poor from their betrayal of the public trust, blame immigrants..

The Democratic members all voted no.

The motion passed, 218 - 214; two Rs (neither from AZ) voted against it but otherwise, all Rs voted in favor of the bill and all Ds voted against it.

The AZ delegation to the House:

D Ansari N

D Stanton N

R Biggs (AZ) Y

R Ciscomani Y

R Crane Y

R Gosar Y

R Hamadeh (AZ) Y

R Schweikert Y

In the Senate:

Gallego D N

Kelly D N

Note:  Other than Abe Hamadeh, as of this writing none of the Rs have a press release up crowing about their votes on Cheeto's bill.

The votes may help the Rs in any primary they may face in 2026 (I'm looking at you, Andy Biggs, candidate for governor in AZ).  In the 2026 general election?

Not so much.

Another Biggs looks to enter the family business

From State Affairs, written by Reagan Priest -

For Andy Biggs, Arizona elections are a family affair

U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, who is running in the Republican primary for governor, might not be the only member of the Biggs family hitting the campaign trail in Arizona next year.

Mylie Biggs, the Congressman’s daughter, filed a statement of interest to run for Senate in Legislative District 14 to fill the vacant seat left by Senate President Warren Petersen, who is term-limited and running for attorney general. 

Mylie currently works at the Arizona Free Enterprise Club.

The rest is behind a paywall.

She filed a statement of interest on 6/18 -

She formed a committee for the run on 6/20 -

If she wins election to the state legislature, we may learn the answer to one question -

Does the Arizona Free Enterprise Club issue 1099s to its pet legislators, or do they just use brown paper bags?

As of right now, she's only candidate for LD14 State Senate (no SOIs or committees), but it's early still.

Gotta love it when extremist Rs eat other Rs

Maybe the new GOP symbol should be from Medium (note: I don't agree with the author's "both sides" premise. but I like the pic)- 

From Arizona Capitol Times, written by Reagan Priest, dated 6/10 -

Freedom Caucus announces primary challengers for 

Arizona Corporation Commission

Two Republican state representatives announced their plans to challenge two incumbent Corporation Commissioners in 2026, saying the two commissioners have not done enough to support President Donald Trump’s energy agenda and protect ratepayers. 

Reps. David Marshall, R-Snowflake, and Ralph Heap, R-Mesa, were recruited by Arizona Freedom Caucus Chair and state Senator Jake Hoffman to run against Republican commissioners Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers. The two commissioners were first elected in 2022 and are eligible to run for a second term next year.

Note: Ralph Heap is the father of Justin Heap (R-MAGA), the current Maricopa County Recorder.

Hoffman recruited Marshall and Heap to run in the R primary because he feels that Thompson and Myers, as bad as they are, aren't Trumpy enough.

He's also recruited Kimberly Yee, the current (and termed out) AZ state treasurer, to mount a primary challenge to Tom Horne, the incumbent AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction.

He has recruited Rep. Alexander Kolodin to challenge incumbent Democrat Adrian Fontes for AZ Secretary of State.  Kolodin may face a primary is his quest to the R nominee for SOS.

Hoffman has endorsed Andy Biggs in the R primary for governor (Dear Leader hedged his bets and endorsed the two major candidates in that race which kind of obviates that move by Hoffman),  Given Biggs' noted inability to fundraise means that he'll need Hoffman more than the basically self-funding Karrin Taylor Robson will.

In fact, the only race where Hoffman hasn't issued an endorsement (at least, not that I can find) is the race for AZ Attorney General.  Fellow state senator Warren Petersen is running in that one.  Or maybe I should say "Senate President Warren Petersen."

Hoffman isn't likely to do something to tick him off while both are members of the state legislature.

Note: as of this writing, neither Marshall nor Heap have formed committees for their runs at ACC slots; however, both have filed Statements of Interest with the SOS.

A top of the ballot race may not be the best place for a candidate w/o elected office experience to start their electoral career

This doesn't apply to Presidential elections, only to U.S. Senate seats from AZ and the Arizona governorship, which are usually the highest level Arizona-based offices on a ballot in AZ.

It's also not a partisan thing as both Ds and Rs fall on both sides of this.

Lastly, when I say "no experience in lower-level offices", I'm not talking about school board or city/town council seats (with one exception) - I didn't look that far into the background of any candidate.

It's not absolutely true - people with experience in lower-level elected offices have lost races for higher office*, and at least one person with no experience in elected office has won a top-of-the ballot race.

* = usually they ran against incumbents or other people with experience in lower-level elected offices.

In the following list, an asterisk (*) next to a candidate's name means that candidate won the race.

"Nada" means that neither office was on the ballot.  I believe that the next time that will happen is 2032..

The races (I started in 1994 because I moved here in 1993) -

Twice, Kari Lake has run for office (2024 [Senate] and 2022 [Governor]), and twice she has lost.

She's not running for governor again, but the two main candidates in the R primary for that office in 2026 exhibit some of the same weaknesses as her.

Andy Biggs, former legislator and current Congressman, is disliked by most people who meet him.  As is Lake.

Karrin Taylor Robson is a rich/famous person looking to buy an elected office.  As was Lake.

Cheeto has famously endorsed both, which may help them in a Republican primary.

However, given his monetization of public service for himself (and his allies) and his cratering of it for everyone else (ya know,  the public), that endorsement may not help in a general election (I'm presuming that one of them will win the primary).

In 2022, D Mark Kelly defeated R Blake Masters for US Senate.  Masters was widely seen as a carpetbagger serving as a rich guy's tool/proxy and had never been in elected office.

In 2020, D Mark Kelly defeated R Martha McSally for a US Senate seat.  While Kelly had no experience in public office and McSally was a member of Congress, he was retired from the military and could pick the brain of his wife, former member of Congress and state legislator, Gabby Giffords.  Those things seem to have helped him.

In 2014 and 2018, R Doug Ducey defeated both Ds David Garcia and Fred Duval in their runs for governor.  In 2018, Ducey was an incumbent; in 2014,he may not have been an incumbent, but had one term as state treasurer under his belt.  While Garcia and Duval had stretches in public life, neither had been in elected office.

In 2012, R Jeff Flake defeated D Richard Carmona for US Senate.  Carmona had public service behind him, but Flake was a member of Congress.

In 2010, R Jan Brewer defeated D Terry Goddard for governor.  While he had been in elected office before and she was an unelected incumbent as Governor.  However, she had been Secretary of State and in the state legislature.

In 2010, R John McCain defeated D Rodney Glassman.  While Glassman had previously been part of the Tucson City Council, McCain was an incumbent.

Glassman changed his party registration (many years ago) and, in 2026, will be running for state Attorney General as a Republican.

Glassman may be able to run as a uniter - the one thing that activists in both major parties can agree on is that most of them dislike him.

In 2006, R Jon Kyl defeated D Jim Pederson for US Senate.  Kyl was an incumbent; Pederson had never been in office.

In 2006, D Janet Napolitano defeated R Len Munsil.  She was an incumbent; he had never been in office.

In 2004, R John McCain defeated D Stuart Starky for US Senate.  McCain was an incumbent, and, to the best of my knowledge, Starky has never been in office.

2004 was before I became politically active, so my knowledge is spotty.

In 2002, D Janet Napolitano defeated R Matt Salmon.  At that point, he was a member of Congress but she had run statewide and been Attorney General.

In 1998, R John McCain defeated D Ed Ranger for US Senate.  McCain was an incumbent, and, to the best of my knowledge, Ranger has never been in office.

In 1998, R Jane Hull defeated D Paul Johnson.  While he had been mayor of Phoenix, she was an unelected incumbent who had been Secretary of State and in the state legislature.

In 1994, R Jon Kyl defeated D Sam Coppersmith for US Senate.  Kyl was an incumbent; Coppersmith had never been in office (so far as I know).

In 1994, R Fife Symington defeated D Eddie Basha for governor. Symington was an incumbent; Basha was a grocery magnate.

In short, the vast majority of races hold true to the title of this post, with a couple of noted exceptions.

Candidate update time

Note: forming a committee and/or filing a Statement of Interest (SOI) with the AZSOS does NOT mean that will appear on a ballot going before voters.

Q: What do former politicos do when they lose a race?

A: Run for office again.

In 2022, legislator John Fillmore (R-Whackjob) lost his primary race for state house.  Now he's filed an SOI for a run at Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton. As of this writing, he has not formed a committee with the FEC.

In 2024, soon-to-be ex-legislator Anthony Kern (R-Another Whackjob) came in fifth in a seven-way primary race for Congress (actually, one was a write in candidate, so he was fifth of six ballot candidates).  Now he's looking to return to the legislature.

He hasn't formed a new committee with the AZSOS, but he may by using an old committee for this run.

It's not just former politicos, though.

Former placekicker (NFL and Arena Football League) Jay Feely (R-very Wide Right) has declared his candidacy to replace Andy Biggs in Congress.

His SOI, from the AZSOS -

His committee with the FEC -

All you need to know about him can be summed up in one pic -

From Sports Illustrated

This pic may help him in his primary race, but I don't care.