Before polls close, Katie Hobbs targets Andy Biggs on primary night

While voters were still casting ballots Tuesday night, Gov. Katie Hobbs used what was billed as a volunteer thank-you to deliver a sustained preview of her general election case against Republican Andy Biggs, mentioning him by name more than a dozen times.

Hobbs opened with praise for the Copper State Victory field team before pivoting quickly to Biggs.

“This election is not just about what party you belong to,” she said. “It’s about who understands what Arizona families are going through and who will actually fight for them.”

She leaned heavily on her personal biography, describing a childhood defined by food stamps, restaurant work and a foreclosure during the Great Recession.

On healthcare, Hobbs criticized Biggs for fighting “tooth and nail” to block Medicaid expansion when he was state Senate president and recently voted to end ACA tax credits.

“Eight of our rural hospitals are at risk of closing because of the cuts in that Washington budget, and we’ve already lost one in southern Arizona,” she said. “But that still wasn’t extreme enough for Biggs. He said he wanted ‘the more cuts approach.'”

She reminded the room that she won in 2022 by just 17,000 votes.

“I have been underestimated in every single race that I’ve ever run. But I will tell you this. I have never lost,” she said to applause from campaign workers.

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