Campaign finance reports show early state of governor's race for Hobbs, Robson, Biggs

Axios

2 days ago

Gov. Katie Hobbs is sitting on a massive war chest, Karrin Taylor Robson self-funded a multimillion-dollar ad campaign, and Andy Biggs is getting significant outside support, newly filed campaign finance reports in the Arizona governor's race show.
Why it matters: Money isn't everything in political campaigns, but it counts for a lot, and the early figures — the primary election is more than a year away — provide a peek under the hood for the three main candidates vying for the governor's office next year.
By the numbers: Robson, a Republican, has pulled in the most overall, nearly $2.8 million, but about $2.2 million was her own money. She has a little under $900,000 on hand.
Hobbs raised the most from contributors in the second quarter of 2025, collecting about $1.3 million. The Democratic incumbent had about $4.7 million on hand as of the end of June.
Biggs, another Republican, raised $429,000 in the second quarter, less than Hobbs or Robson, but he improved on his first-quarter total and his campaign touted it's the most he's raised in a single quarter during his political career, which includes five U.S. House campaigns.
Zoom in: Robson's self-funding was nearly identical to what she spent on television, radio and digital ads last quarter.
She began her ad campaign around the time President Trump announced his dual endorsement of her and Biggs. Before that, he'd backed only Robson.
The intrigue: Robson's media blitz ended around the start of June, and she's been off the air since then.
Conventional campaign wisdom holds that candidates shouldn't advertise on TV until they can afford to stay on the air.
However, Robson consultant Jeff Glassburner told Axios the point of the ads was to set the tone of the race early and get the message out that she has Trump's endorsement.
Flashback: Robson spent $22 million of her own money in her unsuccessful bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2022.
Between the lines: Biggs has already benefited from nearly $459,000 in outside spending by the conservative organization Turning Point's political action committee.