Governor Doug Ducey (R), whose second term as Arizona’s governor will expire in January, has endorsed his potential replacement.
“She’s a native Arizonan and lifelong Republican who got her start working for President Reagan,” Ducey said of candidate Karrin Taylor Robson.
“Conservatives can trust Karrin,” said Ducey. “She raised a family here, and started a small business that has helped create thousands of Arizona jobs. Karrin is the real deal: pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-wall – and she’ll stand up to Joe Biden and the radical left.”
Ducey said Robson, a real estate developer, is a “proven conservative ready to lead on day one.”
Robson thanked the sitting governor for the endorsement.
“Gov. Ducey has been a strong conservative leader who has trimmed government, gotten our fiscal house in order and turned Arizona into a beacon of economic opportunity,” she said. “As governor, I intend to build on that legacy. I will secure the border, safeguard Arizona neighborhoods and never stop fighting for Arizonans and their families.”
Ducey and Robson have a history.
The current governor appointed her in 2017 to fill a vacancy on the Arizona Board of Regents. That board oversees the state’s public universities.
The endorsement puts Ducey at odds with former President Donald J. Trump, who endorsed former television news anchor Kari Lake for governor.
Trump made a rare video endorsement of Lake.
“Well, this is President Donald Trump and I just wanted to tell you that you have a great, great fighter running for governor of Arizona,” he said. “Her name is Kari Lake. She is outstanding. She’s a very conservative person. She believes in true and really great values. She’s gonna do tremendously for the border, for election integrity. She will be somebody that you will be very proud of. And she has my complete and total endorsement.”
A Data Orbital poll released Wednesday shows Robson and Lake in a statistical tie.
Lake is polling at 27.4 percent, and Robson at 23.3 percent, with a margin of error of 4.3 percent.
The poll surveyed 550 Republican voters and asked who they would vote for to hold the state’s highest office in the August 3 primary.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Image “Gov Ducey and Karrin Taylor Robson” by Karrin Taylor Robson.
