Karrin Taylor Robson launches run for Arizona governor, touting Trump's backing
Republican businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson announced Wednesday that she is running for governor in Arizona, touting support from President Donald Trump in the race.
'I thank President Trump for his strong endorsement and look forward to working with him to secure our border and make Arizona safe again,' Taylor Robson said in a statement announcing her run, which made repeated mention of the president.
'Katie Hobbs has made it harder to live, work, and raise a family safely in this state,' she added, referring to the state's Democratic governor, who is up for re-election next year. 'Like President Trump, I know how to create jobs. And like President Trump, I will not rest until our border is secure and Arizona families are safe.'
Taylor Robson's press release pointed to Trump's comments at a Turning Point Action event in Arizona in December as evidence that she has Trump's backing in the race.
'Are you running for governor? I think so, Karrin. Because if you do, you're gonna have my support, okay? You're going to have my support,' Trump said at the time.
Taylor Robson ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, losing the GOP primary to Trump's preferred candidate at that time, former newscaster Kari Lake.
Lake went on to lose a close race to Hobbs, after which she made unfounded claims about voter fraud. Lake then lost a Senate run by a wider margin in 2024, even as Trump carried the battleground state by 5.5 percentage points.
Although she is touting Trump's support this time around, Taylor Robson may not have the primary to herself.
Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, the former chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus and a longtime vocal Trump backer, is also weighing a run.
When asked at the Capitol last month if he would be able to secure Trump's endorsement, given the president's comments about Taylor Robson, Biggs told reporters, 'That would be up to him entirely, obviously. I mean, I like to think we have a good relationship. But I think that the MAGA people in Arizona will support me. We'll find out.'
The Arizona governor's race is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country. Hobbs won her first term in 2022 by less than 1 percentage point, and Trump's 2024 win in Arizona came after narrowly losing the state in 2020.
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The National
26 minutes ago
- The National
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The National
26 minutes ago
- The National
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The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
The Latest: US joins Israeli air campaign and strikes 3 nuclear sites in Iran
The U.S. military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel 's effort to decapitating the country's nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran's threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict. The decision to directly involve the U.S. comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country's air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-lb. bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground. President Donald Trump was the first to disclose the strikes. There was no immediate acknowledgment from the Iranian government. 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It offered no photos or video showing the attack Israeli officials lauded the strikes Israeli officials lauded the strikes in sweeping and dramatic language. Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, thanked Trump and said the strikes marked a 'decisive moment between the axis of terror and evil and the axis of hope.' Israel's defense minister congratulated Trump on what he described as a 'historic decision.' US steps up efforts to evacuate citizens from Israel The U.S. is stepping up evacuation flights for American citizens from Israel to Europe and continuing to draw down its staff at diplomatic missions in Iraq as fears of Iranian retaliation again U.S. interests in the Middle East grow. Even before those airstrikes were announced by President Donald Trump on Saturday evening in Washington, the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem announced the start of evacuation flights for American civilians from Israel. Sixty-seven American citizens left Israel on two government flights bound for Athens, Greece on Saturday and four more evacuation flights to Athens were planned for Sunday, according to an internal State Department document seen by The Associated Press. In addition to the flights, a cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 American citizens, including several hundred Jewish youngsters who had been visiting Israel on an organized tour, arrived in Cyprus, according to the document. — Matthew Lee Israel closes airspace in wake of US attacks Israel's Airport Authority announced it was closing the country's airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites. The agency said it was shutting down air traffic 'due to recent developments' and did not say for how long. Iran says 'no signs of contamination' after US strikes nuclear facilities Iran said early Sunday there were 'no signs of contamination' at its nuclear sites at Isfahan, Fordo and Natanz after U.S. airstrikes targeted the facilities. Iranian state media quoted the country's National Nuclear Safety System Center, which published a statement saying its radiation detectors had recorded no radioactive release after the strikes. 'There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites,' the statement added. Earlier Israeli airstrikes on nuclear sites similarly have caused no recorded release of radioactive material into the environment around the facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said. Strikes used 'bunker buster' bombs and cruise missiles The U.S. military used 'bunker-buster' bombs in its attack on Iran's Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, which is built deep into a mountain, a U.S. official said. That official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. The 30,000-pound bunker-busting American bomb known as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to penetrate underground and then explode. Saturday's strikes were the first time it has been used in combat. U.S. submarines also participated in the attacks in Iran, launching about 30 Tomahawk land attack missiles, according to another U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. It was not clear what those missiles were aimed at. Two Iranian nuclear sites besides Fordo were attacked, Isfahan and Natanz. — Lolita C. Baldor Trump called Netanyahu after strikes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video that Trump called him after the strikes. 'It was a very warm conversation, very emotional,' Netanyahu said. Speaking in Hebrew, he called Trump a friend of Israel like no one before him. 'In my name, and on behalf of all citizens of Israel and on behalf of the entire Jewish world, I thank him from the bottom of my heart.'
