Trump-backed candidates sweep Arizona primary, setting up fall battles

Republican Andy Biggs won Arizona’s governor primary on July 21, setting up a November clash with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs after Trump-backed candidates swept the state’s GOP contests. Former NFL kicker Jay Feely also won a Trump-backed Republican primary as polls closed at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

Biggs defeated Rep. David Schweikert and businessmen Ken Miceli and Scott Neely in the race for the Republican nomination. The statewide ballot also included contests for attorney general, secretary of state, U.S. House seats and the state legislature, giving Arizona Republicans and Democrats a broad set of fall races that will shape the state’s political balance.

The governor’s race now lands in one of the country’s most closely watched swing states, where Democrats had been banking on Republicans nominating far-right candidates. Biggs enters the general election as the Republican standard-bearer against Hobbs, while the rest of the ballot will test whether Trump’s influence can carry GOP candidates through suburban counties and into competitive congressional districts.

Trump’s grip on Republican primaries has been unusually strong this cycle. Nationally, Trump-endorsed candidates had won 220 of 227 primaries, a 97% success rate, a showing that extends far beyond Arizona and into the fight over which Republicans will define the party heading into the midterms. In Arizona, that influence now reaches the top of the ticket and the down-ballot races that could help decide control of Congress.