{"id":8978,"date":"2026-10-19T01:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/?p=8978"},"modified":"2026-10-19T01:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:00:11","slug":"beyond-the-attack-ads-what-23-years-of-andy-biggss-record-actually-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/2026\/10\/19\/beyond-the-attack-ads-what-23-years-of-andy-biggss-record-actually-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Attack Ads: What 23 Years of Andy Biggs\u2019s Record Actually Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

An investigation of the record behind the rhetoric, and the case for a change on the Ninth Floor<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2767 \u2726 \u2767<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016, Andy Biggs won his first congressional primary by 27 votes, a margin confirmed only after an automatic recount. A decade later, the Gilbert Republican is his party\u2019s nominee for governor, and the gap he faces is no longer measured in dozens. Polls show him trailing Gov. Katie Hobbs by five to 15 points, and Arizona\u2019s airwaves are thick with Democratic ads branding him a \u201cpredator protector.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strip away the ads and what remains is a public record that spans more than two decades: eight years in the Arizona House, six in the Arizona Senate (four as its president), and nearly ten in Congress. That record holds genuine accomplishments, some real liabilities, and a governing pattern that admirers and critics alike tend to misread. This article examines all three, tests Biggs\u2019s charges against the Hobbs administration, and gives the Hobbs campaign\u2019s charges against him the same scrutiny.<\/p>\n

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The Making of a Practical Conservative<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

From Tucson to the Senate President\u2019s Chair<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Biggs was born in Tucson in 1958. He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in Asian studies from Brigham Young University, a law degree from the University of Arizona in 1984, and later a master\u2019s in political science from Arizona State University. He practiced law and worked as a prosecutor before winning a Gilbert-based seat in the Arizona House, where he served from 2003 to 2011.<\/p>\n

He moved to the Senate in 2011 and within weeks became majority leader, succeeding Sen. Scott Bundgaard that March. He chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee and sat on the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. From 2013 through 2016, he was Senate President, presiding over four budget cycles and the negotiations that produced Proposition 123, the land-trust measure voters approved in 2016 to send roughly $3.5 billion to K\u201312 schools over ten years.<\/p>\n

What the Senate Years Reveal<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Those years are a better predictor of how Biggs would govern than his congressional votes, and they complicate the caricature. In a September analysis, Axios Phoenix reporter Jeremy Duda found that Biggs \u201cshowed a more pragmatic streak\u201d as Senate President, though mostly when he had run out of alternatives. He fought Medicaid expansion while setting up the vote that eventually passed it, resisted the Prop. 123 deal until it was clear it could not be stopped, and backed off his opposition to reinstating KidsCare once its supporters found a way around him.<\/p>\n

He will push the envelope as far as he can go. Ultimately, if necessary, and only when necessary, he\u2019ll make a deal.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams, quoted by Jeremy Duda, Axios Phoenix, Sept. 15, 2026<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Biggs took the line as a compliment: \u201che says we\u2019re making a deal.\u201d Former Democratic Sen. Steve Farley said that stepping aside on KidsCare \u201cwas probably not an easy thing for him to do.\u201d Debbie Lesko, who served with Biggs in both chambers, expects the same pragmatism from him as governor.<\/p>\n

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The Congressional Record<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Volume, Votes, and the Freedom Caucus<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Biggs has represented Arizona\u2019s 5th District, which covers much of Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek, since January 2017. He chaired the House Freedom Caucus from October 2019 to January 2022, challenged Kevin McCarthy for the Republican speakership nomination in 2022, and in October 2023 was one of eight Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy from the chair. In the current Congress, he chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance and sits on the Oversight Committee.<\/p>\n

By volume, he is the most prolific legislator in the House. In the 118th Congress alone, he introduced 612 bills and resolutions, more than any other member. Most went nowhere, which is what happens to nearly all introduced bills, and many were messaging measures. His voting is as consistent as anyone\u2019s in the chamber: Heritage Action scores him 98 percent for the current Congress and 94 percent lifetime, and his House biography cites a lifetime 100 percent rating from the Club for Growth.<\/p>\n

Laws, Casework, and Local Results<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

The measures Biggs got enacted are few but real. The Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act, named for an 11-year-old Navajo girl abducted and murdered in 2016 after a delayed alert, made tribes eligible for AMBER Alert grants. Biggs worked on it with the late Sen. John McCain, and President Trump signed it in 2018. Public Law 116-295 named Gilbert\u2019s VA clinic for Staff Sgt. Alexander W. Conrad, a Chandler-area soldier killed in Somalia in 2018. His JACK Act, which requires lobbyists to disclose convictions for bribery, extortion and similar crimes, passed the House 391\u20130. More recently, the House passed his CSAFE Act, which makes it a federal crime to use the internet to threaten or coerce minors, and Kayleigh\u2019s Law, which he cosponsored to shield crime victims from contact by their offenders.<\/p>\n

Less visible but more tangible to constituents: his district office has closed more than 5,100 casework files since 2017 and recovered about $13.5 million for East Valley residents from the IRS, Social Security, the VA and other agencies. In 2026, he introduced a Colorado River Basin Water Security and Infrastructure Act of roughly $19 billion, aimed at desalination, the Yuma plant and faster permitting.<\/p>\n

The Known Deficiencies<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

A fair accounting has to include the parts of the record that give even sympathetic voters pause. After the 2020 election, Biggs promoted claims of widespread fraud in Maricopa County, signed the amicus brief backing Texas v. Pennsylvania<\/i> (which the Supreme Court rejected), and voted on January 6, 2021, to object to Arizona\u2019s electoral votes. Then, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers testified that Biggs called him that morning asking him to sign a letter seeking decertification of Arizona\u2019s electors. In October 2021, Biggs still said, \u201cWe don\u2019t know who won Arizona in the 2020 presidential election.\u201d Since a governor has a formal role in certifying Arizona\u2019s election results, this is the most serious item on his ledger.<\/p>\n

Other items are smaller but add up. He told podcaster Stew Peters, whom Wikipedia describes as an antisemitic white nationalist, to \u201ckeep preaching.\u201d He voted against the CHIPS and Science Act, even as semiconductor investment poured into his district. At a Capitol press conference on his education agenda, he took questions for less than ten minutes and called one reporter the \u201cangry man in the blue coat.\u201d None of this disqualifies him, but it is the record his opponent is entitled to raise.<\/p>\n

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Do Biggs\u2019s Criticisms of Hobbs Hold Up?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Affordability<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Under Katie Hobbs, we\u2019ve gone from being one of the most affordable states to one of the least affordable states.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Andy Biggs, on \u201cThe States\u201d podcast, reported by Chris Woodward, The Center Square<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The trend is real. An April report by the Common Sense Institute, a conservative-leaning Arizona think tank, ranked Arizona 45th in affordability, down from 33rd before the pandemic. It estimated that the average household needed about $19,300 more a year for essentials in 2025 than in 2019, and that shelter and utility costs for a family of four rose 59 percent, the fourth-largest increase in the country. Even Hobbs built her 2026 State of the State address around lowering costs.<\/p>\n

The attribution is weaker. The study window begins four years before Hobbs took office, the report itself points to the post-pandemic inflation spike, and 33rd was never \u201cone of the most affordable.\u201d Verdict:<\/span><\/b> the direction is right, but the blame is overstated. Still, an incumbent owns the last four years, and Biggs is entitled to ask what she has done with them.<\/p>\n

The Veto Pen<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

This is Biggs\u2019s strongest argument. Hobbs has vetoed 541 bills in four years. She set the single-session record with 143 in 2023 and broke it with 174 in 2025. The previous record belonged to Democrat Janet Napolitano, who issued 58 vetoes in 2005 and 181 across six years. Among the vetoed bills Biggs cites are tougher fentanyl penalties, added sex-offender notification requirements, a ban on using SNAP benefits for soda, and campaign-contribution disclosure for state contractors.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m inclined to consider and probably sign a whole host of bills by Republicans that were vetoed by her.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Andy Biggs, quoted by Jeremy Duda, Axios Phoenix, Oct. 5, 2026<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Her spokesman, Michael Beyer, calls that a promise to give \u201cextremists free rein.\u201d The veto is a legitimate constitutional check, and many of these bills were partisan by design. Even so, numbers this large point to a working relationship with the Legislature that never formed. Verdict<\/span>:<\/b> legitimate.<\/p>\n

Border Security<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Biggs calls Hobbs \u201can open borders advocate,\u201d citing the end of earlier border-barrier efforts and of the state\u2019s Border Strike Force. The facts are mixed. Hobbs did disband Gov. Doug Ducey\u2019s strike force in 2023. She sent its money to local agencies, more than $200 million by her count, saying \u201cthose dollars are still being used for border security.\u201d Arizona Republic records showed that most seizures credited to the unit were made by other troopers and that much of its work took place outside the four border counties. The shipping-container barrier came down under an agreement Ducey reached in his final weeks in office. Hobbs has also asked Washington to reimburse nearly $760 million in state border spending. Verdict<\/span>:<\/b> the policy disagreement is fair; the \u201copen borders\u201d label does not fit her record.<\/p>\n

Water<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Biggs argues that Hobbs leaned on conservation instead of augmentation and \u201cshould have been more proactive in leading\u201d on the Colorado River. In August, the Interior Department finalized two years of Lower Basin cuts. Arizona\u2019s share is 760,000 acre-feet a year, the largest of the three states, because the Central Arizona Project holds junior rights under decades-old law. Hobbs praised the outcome as averting worse federal cuts, but the agreement still needs a special legislative session for which, as of late August, there was no date. Verdict<\/span>:<\/b> partly legitimate. Arizona\u2019s junior priority is not her doing, but Biggs\u2019s push for groundwater development and desalination is a serious alternative, and his own $19 billion bill gives him standing to make it. Notably, he has sided with Hobbs on a moratorium on new data-center incentives, which suggests his criticism is not simply reflexive.<\/p>\n

Debates and Schools<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Biggs faults Hobbs for avoiding public forums, and she has said she does not plan to debate him. That criticism lands, though it sits awkwardly beside his own ten-minute press conference. On schools, he wants to opt into a federal education tax credit Hobbs has declined, expand Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, and revive Prop. 123, which expired in June 2025. Hobbs\u2019s campaign says \u201cAndy Biggs and his allies are the reason Prop 123 isn\u2019t on the ballot.\u201d Asked whether ESAs need more oversight after 12News found purchases of iPhones, televisions, and lingerie, Biggs said, \u201cThere\u2019s already lots of guardrails in there.\u201d Many parents will want a fuller answer than that.<\/p>\n

\u2767 \u2726 \u2767<\/span><\/p>\n

Context on the Charges Against Biggs<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Colorado City<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2026protecting these pedophiles \u2026 And Andy Biggs stopped this bill.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Gov. Katie Hobbs, Aug. 27 interview, reported by Kevin Stone, KTAR News, Sept. 4, 2026<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The charge concerns a 2013 House-passed bill to dissolve the Colorado City Marshal\u2019s Office, long accused of serving the polygamous FLDS sect. (The FLDS has no connection to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which forbids polygamy.) As Senate President, Biggs assigned the bill to two committees, a move its sponsors said was meant to kill it. Biggs says he assigned it \u201cappropriately,\u201d that he voted for a 2012 decertification bill that failed, and that the Fraternal Order of Police and the Arizona Police Association opposed the 2013 version as poorly written.<\/p>\n

She can say whatever she wants to say, but I\u2019ll stack my record up against hers.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Andy Biggs, KTAR\u2019s \u201cArizona\u2019s Morning News,\u201d reported by Kevin Stone, Sept. 4, 2026<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A double referral is a familiar way for a Senate president to bury a bill, so the question is a fair one. The law-enforcement opposition is a substantive answer, and it deserves to be made in full rather than buried under his on-air line that the charge is \u201ccrap.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Security-Guard Vote and the Epstein Files<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

The Hobbs campaign has also pointed to Biggs\u2019s 2012 vote against restricting sex offenders from working as security guards. Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services reported what the attack leaves out: a last-minute amendment by Sen. Rich Crandall had allowed licensing for some felons once ten years had passed since sentencing.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you. But that gives me pause. So I\u2019m a \u2018no.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Andy Biggs, Arizona Senate floor, 2012, reported by Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services, Oct. 12, 2026<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Senate President Steve Pierce and Sen. Ron Gould voted no as well. Fischer also noted that Hobbs criticizes Biggs\u2019s committee vote against releasing the Epstein files without mentioning that he later voted for the resolution on the House floor, and that the outlet behind the original story has a prime investor tied to the Democratic group American Bridge 21st Century. Verdict:<\/span><\/b> misleading by omission.<\/p>\n

Costs, Taxes, and Health Care<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

The campaign\u2019s economic charges stand on firmer ground, though they need context. Biggs does cosponsor the FairTax (H.R. 25), but its 23 percent national sales tax would replace federal income, payroll, and estate taxes rather than come on top of them, a fact the ads leave out. His votes against the insulin cap, the enhanced ACA premium credits, and Medicaid spending are real and fit his fiscal philosophy; voters may reject that philosophy, but these are not distortions. The same goes for his tariff comment (\u201cNo inflation. Yet the tariffs seem to be working\u201d) and his six votes against bills to end the Iran war, which he explains by pointing to his co-founding of the bipartisan War Powers Caucus.<\/p>\n

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Opinion: Why Biggs Would Be the More Effective Governor<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

What follows is the author\u2019s opinion.<\/i><\/p>\n

Effectiveness means turning a governing agenda into law and results. By that measure, the last four years have been stalled. Whatever one thinks of the 541 vetoed bills, the Legislature and the governor have spent much of Hobbs\u2019s term at an impasse. Prop. 123 lapsed. The Colorado River agreement waits on a session with no date. Hobbs has signed budgets negotiated with Republican leaders, and her defenders credit her with blocking bills they consider extreme. But a state cannot be governed by veto alone.<\/p>\n

A Biggs administration would almost certainly work with a Republican Legislature, and his Senate record answers the main worry about him: he pushes hard, but he makes deals when he has to. Medicaid expansion, Prop. 123 and KidsCare all moved forward during his presidency even though he opposed each one. Former Govs. Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey, both of whom crossed swords with him, have endorsed him, as have the Fraternal Order of Police Arizona State Lodge and the Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs.<\/p>\n

On water, the state faces the largest cuts in the Lower Basin, and it needs a governor with working relationships at Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation, along with a serious augmentation plan. Biggs brings both. His district office\u2019s casework record shows an operation built to get results out of bureaucracies, which is a large part of an executive\u2019s job.<\/p>\n

His deficiencies are real. His stance on the 2020 election is the most troubling, and Arizonans deserve a clear commitment from him to certify results as the law requires. His claim that the income tax can be eliminated without raising other taxes is a promise of growth, not a proof. His dismissiveness toward reporters and toward ESA oversight should change. Still, a governor operates within the checks of the courts, an independently elected Secretary of State, and the voters. On balance, a pragmatic conservative aligned with the Legislature is likelier to get Arizona moving than an incumbent whose signature achievement is a veto record.<\/p>\n

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Conclusion<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Andy Biggs is neither the extremist of the Hobbs ads nor a flawless statesman. His record shows a disciplined fiscal conservative, a prolific legislator and, when he has held real power, a reluctant but reliable dealmaker. Several of his criticisms of Hobbs, on vetoes, affordability, water and accountability, are legitimate even where he overstates them. Several of her charges against him collapse once the omitted facts are restored, and one, Colorado City, still calls for a fuller answer from him. With early ballots already in the mail before the Nov. 3 election, Arizonans should judge both candidates on the full record, not on the ads.<\/p>\n

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Addendum<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Four controversies that define the Hobbs years, and what the record shows<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2767 \u2726 \u2767<\/span><\/p>\n

A challenger\u2019s record is a forecast; an incumbent\u2019s record is a receipt. Andy Biggs has faced weeks of scrutiny over decisions he made as Arizona Senate President more than a decade ago. Gov. Katie Hobbs has spent the past four years making decisions of her own, and as early ballots circulate ahead of the Nov. 3 election, they deserve the same examination.<\/p>\n

This addendum takes up the four controversies most often raised against her administration: the Sunshine Residential pay-to-play inquiry, the fight over Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, her record-setting use of the veto, and her handling of the Colorado River. Each is weighed against the documented record, including the parts that favor the governor.<\/p>\n

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Sunshine Residential and the Pay-to-Play Question<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Money and the Rates<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Sunshine Residential Homes is Arizona\u2019s largest group-home operator for children in state care. According to Hobbs\u2019s own attorneys, the company, its founder Simon Kottoor, and others connected to it gave $580,840 between September 2022 and May 2024 to the Arizona Democratic Party, Hobbs\u2019s campaign, her inaugural fund, and her legal defense fund. During the same period, the Department of Child Safety approved two rate increases for Sunshine after Hobbs took office, the second raising its per-bed rate from $195 to $234. The Arizona Republic, which broke the story in 2024, reported an increase of nearly 60 percent; DCS assistant directors had recommended 30 percent.<\/p>\n

One detail from the investigative file is hard to dismiss. In February 2023, a DCS assistant director told then-director David Lujan, unprompted, that Sunshine would likely seek a rate increase and that the company was \u201cdonors to the Governor.\u201d Senate Republicans also say internal DCS communications discussed keeping Sunshine\u2019s special rate quiet from its competitors.<\/p>\n

The Attorney General\u2019s Findings<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

In August, after a two-year inquiry, Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to file charges. Her criminal division found that Hobbs did not advocate for the increase and was not told of it until DCS had approved it. Investigators attributed the increases to Sunshine\u2019s \u201coutsized leverage\u201d over a state desperately short of foster beds, and noted that two other providers received larger increases between 2019 and 2024.<\/p>\n

\u2026no evidence to establish a reasonable likelihood of conviction for bribery or any other related offenses.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Report of the Arizona Attorney General\u2019s Criminal Division, reported by Wayne Schutsky, KJZZ, Aug. 21, 2026<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why the Questions Persist<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

A decision not to prosecute is not a finding of good governance, and three features of this case keep it alive. First, Hobbs never sat for an interview; she submitted written statements through her lawyers and sent her campaign manager. Mayes says that was not \u201ca make-or-break,\u201d but it is an unusual courtesy to extend to the central figure in a bribery inquiry. Second, Mayes is a Democratic ally, and Sunshine gave roughly $300,000 to the state party that supports them both. Mayes says she did not benefit, but Senate President Warren Petersen called the outcome \u201ca calculated decision to protect her political ally\u201d and has asked for the release of interview videos and transcripts. Third, the Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office says the matter remains open there, and a separate Auditor General review has no timeline.<\/p>\n

The most damaging fact belongs to Hobbs alone. Twice, in 2025 (SB 1612) and again in 2026 (SB 1186), she vetoed bills requiring companies seeking state contracts to disclose what they had given to the governor and related committees. Her own alternative, a ban on large donations during bidding, died in the Republican Legislature. Even Mayes, in closing the case, said it \u201cshows there is a need for legislative reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katie Hobbs took the political money, her administration approved the rate increases.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sen. T.J. Shope, Arizona Senate Republicans press release, Aug. 24, 2026<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Assessment:<\/b> <\/span>No crime has been shown, and Biggs\u2019s ad claiming Hobbs \u201cis under criminal investigation\u201d leans hard on a county review that remains technically open. Still, the appearance problem is real, and a governor who vetoes disclosure reform twice while her largest group-home contractor is under scrutiny has handed her critics their best argument.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Annual Battle Over Empowerment Scholarship Accounts<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Four Budgets, Four Proposals<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Arizona\u2019s ESA program became universal in 2022 under Gov. Doug Ducey. Hobbs has targeted it in every executive budget since. In 2023, she proposed repealing the universal expansion outright, which the Goldwater Institute said would \u201crip away funding\u201d from more than 30,000 students. In 2024, she proposed requiring 100 days of prior public-school attendance. In 2025, she proposed income limits that would phase out vouchers entirely at $200,000 in household income. In January 2026, she proposed a $250,000 income cap, estimated to save about $89 million.<\/p>\n

Each proposal was a long shot, and each budget she ultimately signed left the program standing. As the Goldwater Institute noted in 2023, \u201cthe governor has no such unilateral power\u201d to undo the expansion.<\/p>\n

Weighing the Critique<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Hobbs\u2019s concerns are not baseless. Enrollment grew from about 12,000 students before universal eligibility to more than 106,000, and annual cost passed $1 billion. Her office says about 73 percent of universal-track students never attended public school, which means the program largely funds families who were already paying privately. A 12News investigation found ESA money spent on iPhones, televisions and lingerie. In spring 2025, while Republicans defended ESA spending, the state\u2019s Division of Developmental Disabilities ran $122 million short, setting off a bitter standoff over services for disabled Arizonans.<\/p>\n

Even so, the critics\u2019 central point holds. A proposal that is introduced every year with no path to passage is a statement of opposition, not a reform strategy. Hobbs has never won a single structural ESA change, and her retreat from repeal to attendance rules to income caps shows a governor negotiating with herself. Parents who rely on the program, about 106,000 children\u2019s worth, hear the annual proposals as a standing threat. Meanwhile, the oversight problem she could have pressed with bipartisan support, misuse of funds, gets lost in the fight over eligibility. Assessment:<\/b><\/span> her worries about cost and accountability are legitimate; her method has produced political friction and no results.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2767 \u2726 \u2767<\/span><\/p>\n

Vetoes, Gridlock, and the Cost of Living<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

A Record Without Precedent<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Hobbs has vetoed 541 bills in four years. She set the single-session record with 143 in 2023 and broke it with 174 in 2025, against a previous high mark of 181 vetoes across Janet Napolitano\u2019s entire six-year tenure. Some of those vetoes concern issues voters feel directly.<\/p>\n

Homelessness.<\/b> <\/span>In March 2023, she vetoed SB 1024, which would have barred tents and improvised shelters on sidewalks and other public property, writing that it \u201conly makes them less visible.\u201d In June 2023, she vetoed a second encampment bill, saying it did not address the \u201croot causes\u201d of homelessness. Phoenix residents living beside the downtown encampment known as \u201cthe Zone\u201d may find that reasoning harder to accept.<\/span><\/p>\n

Border enforcement.<\/b> <\/span>Hobbs vetoed the Arizona Border Invasion Act in 2024. Republicans then sent a version of it to the ballot as Proposition 314, which voters approved by a wide margin that November, a rare case of voters directly overruling a governor\u2019s veto.<\/span><\/p>\n

Taxes.<\/span><\/b> In February 2026, she vetoed two Republican bills conforming Arizona tax law to the 2025 federal tax changes: one partial, one complete. She had already directed the Department of Revenue to use the federal changes on state forms, leaving the law and the forms out of step. Rep. Justin Olson (R-Mesa) warned the veto was \u201ccreating a significant amount of unnecessary confusion and uncertainty for taxpayers,\u201d some of whom might face amended returns.<\/p>\n

Water Rules and Housing<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

In June 2023, the Hobbs administration stopped approving new subdivisions in the Phoenix area that relied only on groundwater, after a state model projected a 4 percent shortfall, nearly 4.9 million acre-feet, over the next century. The pause fell hardest on fast-growing West Valley and Pinal County communities, where builders had planned tens of thousands of homes, just as Arizona was sliding toward 45th in affordability.<\/p>\n

We are not out of water and we will not be running out of water.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Gov. Katie Hobbs, quoted by Jeremy Duda, Axios, June 1, 2023<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In fairness, the 100-year assured-supply rule is state law that predates her, and the model\u2019s findings left the state little choice. Her administration later created an alternative designation pathway, and in October 2025 utility EPCOR won a designation expected to serve about 60,000 West Valley homes. Critics are right that relief took more than two years to arrive. Assessment:<\/span><\/b> the veto record shows real costs in public order, tax clarity and housing supply, though several of those vetoes answered bills built to force a confrontation.<\/p>\n

\u2767 \u2726 \u2767<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colorado River: From Praise to Litigation<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

On Aug. 21, the Interior Department finalized two years of shortage cuts. Arizona\u2019s share is 760,000 acre-feet a year, the largest in the Lower Basin, because the Central Arizona Project holds junior rights. Hobbs praised the decision for sparing Arizona \u201cforced federal cuts\u201d while warning she would protect the state\u2019s water \u201cby any legal means necessary.\u201d Nevada sued three days later. On Oct. 16, Arizona joined that suit.<\/p>\n

We are drawing a line in the sand.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Gov. Katie Hobbs, reported by Piper Heath, The Nevada Independent, Oct. 16, 2026<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Arizona\u2019s argument is that the federal framework does not require the Upper Basin states (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico) to deliver water to Lake Mead, which could push Lower Basin cuts toward 3 million acre-feet a year. Without the Lower Basin agreement, the Central Arizona Project could face a 77 percent cut over two years. ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke says the state will keep negotiating with California and Nevada while the case proceeds.<\/p>\n

The critique here is about sequence, not substance. Hobbs approached the crisis with conservation-first negotiations and largely accepted a near-term split that put Arizona\u2019s cut at the top of the table; only after Nevada moved first did she turn to the courts. The Lower Basin deal she praised still needs a special legislative session, and as of late August her office had set no date for it. Utah\u2019s House speaker said Nevada\u2019s suit made a difficult situation harder, and Arizona has now joined it in the middle of an election. Assessment:<\/b> her stance against Upper Basin intransigence is defensible and widely shared in Arizona. But the state is now pursuing negotiation and litigation at the same time without a ratified agreement, which supports the charge that Arizona has been reacting to the river\u2019s crisis rather than leading it.<\/p>\n

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The Balance Sheet<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Not every charge against Hobbs holds up. The attorney general\u2019s inquiry found no evidence that she directed Sunshine\u2019s rate increases; her ESA concerns rest on real questions of cost and oversight; and on the Colorado River she is fighting for Arizona against states that have conceded little.<\/p>\n

But the pattern across all four issues is consistent: a governor more effective at stopping things than at finishing them. She vetoed contractor-disclosure reform while a major contractor was under investigation. She has proposed ESA restrictions she could not pass instead of the oversight she might have won. She set veto records that left encampment, border and tax policy to be settled by stalemate or by the ballot. And she reached for litigation on the river before a ratified agreement was in hand. Whether that makes her a necessary check on an aggressive Legislature or an obstacle to governing is the question Arizona voters will answer on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

ABC15 Arizona.<\/strong> \u201cGov. Katie Hobbs Says Border Strike Force Money Better Spent on Local Law Enforcement.\u201d Aug. 31, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/www.abc15.com\/news\/local-news\/gov-katie-hobbs-says-border-strike-force-money-better-spent-on-local-law-enforcement<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nArizona State Library<\/strong>. \u201cAndrew \u2018Andy\u2019 S. Biggs.\u201d Arizona Legislators directory.
\nhttps:\/\/apps.azlibrary.gov\/officials\/Legislators\/Person\/117<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nBiggs, Andy.<\/strong> \u201cBiography.\u201d Office of Congressman Andy Biggs.
\nhttps:\/\/biggs.house.gov\/about\/biography<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nBiggs for Arizona.<\/strong> \u201cEndorsements.\u201d
\nhttps:\/\/biggsforarizona.com\/endorsements\/<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nBillTrack50.<\/strong> \u201cAndy Biggs\u201d legislator profile.
\nhttps:\/\/www.billtrack50.com\/legislatordetail\/15082<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nDavis-Young, Katherine.<\/strong> \u201cArizona Has Become One of the Least Affordable States, Report Says.\u201d KJZZ, Apr. 14, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/www.kjzz.org\/business\/2026-04-14\/arizona-has-become-one-of-the-least-affordable-states-report-says<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nDuda, Jeremy.<\/strong> \u201cBiggs\u2019 Time as Senate President Illustrates Governing Style.\u201d Axios Phoenix, Sept. 15, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/phoenix\/2026\/09\/15\/andy-biggs-senate-president-freedom-caucus-governor<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nDuda, Jeremy.<\/strong> \u201cFeds Announce Colorado River Cuts for Arizona.\u201d Axios Phoenix, Aug. 21, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/phoenix\/2026\/08\/21\/feds-announce-colorado-river-cuts-arizona<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nDuda, Jeremy.<\/strong> \u201cVeto Stamp Hangs in the Balance in Governor\u2019s Race.\u201d Axios Phoenix, Oct. 5, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/phoenix\/2026\/10\/05\/andy-biggs-katie-hobbs-vetoes-arizona-governor-race<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nFischer, Howard.<\/strong> \u201cHobbs Campaign Aide\u2019s Attack on Biggs Omits Key Facts.\u201d Capitol Media Services, via Arizona Daily Star (Tucson.com), Oct. 12, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/tucson.com\/news\/state-regional\/government-politics\/elections\/article_ce6f3059-3c29-4376-a0c0-9896b632bb3a.html<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nHarris, Craig.<\/strong> \u201cAndy Biggs Pledges to Cut Arizona Income Taxes, Expand School Choice if Elected Governor.\u201d 12News.
\nhttps:\/\/www.12news.com\/article\/news\/politics\/elections\/andy-biggs-pledges-to-cut-arizona-income-taxes-expand-school-choice-if-elected-governor\/75-44c631ce-8f3f-4b31-bd87-a9c9595c8998<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nHeritage Action for America.<\/strong> \u201cRep. Andy Biggs\u201d scorecard, 116th Congress.
\nhttps:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/members\/B001302\/116<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nHeritage Action for America. \u201cRep. Andy Biggs\u201d scorecard, lifetime and 119th Congress.
\nhttps:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/members\/b001302<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nKatie Hobbs for Governor.<\/strong> \u201c\u2018Big Problem\u2019: New Digital Video Exposes Andy Biggs\u2019 Record of Higher Costs, Healthcare Cuts, and Protecting Predators.\u201d July 21, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/katiehobbs.org\/big-problem-new-digital-video-exposes-andy-biggs-record-of-higher-costs-healthcare-cuts-and-protecting-predators\/<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nKOLD News 13.<\/strong> \u201cGov. Hobbs Asks Feds to Reimburse Nearly $760 Million Spent on Border Security.\u201d July 31, 2025.
\nhttps:\/\/www.kold.com\/2025\/07\/31\/gov-hobbs-asks-feds-reimburse-nearly-760-million-spent-border-security\/<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nLegiStorm.<\/strong> \u201cAndrew Steven Biggs\u201d biography.
\nhttps:\/\/www.legistorm.com\/person\/bio\/189182\/Andrew_Steven_Biggs.html<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nMurray, Madeline.<\/strong> \u201cRep. Andy Biggs Faces Criticism over Past Decisions.\u201d KYMA, Aug. 20, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/kyma.com\/decision-politics\/2026\/08\/20\/biggs-faces-criticism-over-past-decisions\/<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nO\u2019Sullivan, Serena.<\/strong> \u201cAndy Biggs Q&A: Stances on Affordability, Water, Other Key Issues Ahead of 2026 Governor\u2019s Race.\u201d KTAR News, July 23, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/ktar.com\/arizona-politics-news\/election\/andy-biggs-issues<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nStone, Kevin.<\/strong> \u201cAndy Biggs Defends Record of Protecting Women, Children amid Katie Hobbs\u2019 FLDS Accusations.\u201d KTAR News, Sept. 4, 2026.
\nhttps:\/\/ktar.com\/arizona-politics-news\/election\/andy-biggs-katie-hobbs-flds-accusations<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nWikipedia.<\/strong> \u201cAndy Biggs.\u201d
\nhttps:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Andy_Biggs<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\nWoodward, Chris.<\/strong> \u201cAndy Biggs Stresses Affordability, Border Security in Arizona.\u201d The Center Square.
\nhttps:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/arizona\/article_122b7e86-1f67-4c5d-a7a4-635bfd380c2e.html<\/u><\/span><\/a>
\n\u201c<\/strong>Andy Biggs Legislative Record.\u201d<\/strong> Research narrative supplied by the author (unpublished).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2767 \u2726 \u2767<\/span><\/p>\n

Research and drafting assistance provided by Claude (Anthropic),
\nworking as a research collaborator under the author’s full editorial direction.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An investigation of the record behind the rhetoric, and the case for a change on the Ninth Floor \u2767 \u2726 \u2767 In 2016, Andy Biggs won his first congressional primary by 27 votes, a margin confirmed only after an automatic recount. A decade later, the Gilbert Republican is his party\u2019s nominee for governor, and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[136,162,104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arizona-politics","category-conservative-movement","category-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Gemini_Generated_Image_4yxafi4yxafi4yxa.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8978"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8983,"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8978\/revisions\/8983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novus2.com\/righteouscause\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}