Andy Biggs explains why he picked Sine Kerr as his running mate in bid for governor’s seat

Republican gubernatorial nominee Andy Biggs said he had 75 people to choose from before selecting Sine Kerr as his running mate on Friday.

The pick marks a first in Arizona history. Biggs is the first gubernatorial candidate in the state to name a lieutenant governor running mate after voters approved creating the position in 2022.

“I was also looking for someone serious with some gravitas who could — you know, the idea is if the governor’s out of the state, you’ve got a lieutenant governor there,” Biggs told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show.

Biggs and Kerr joined the show a few hours after announcing the selection. Kerr, a former state legislator, was appointed by the Trump administration in May 2025 as state executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency.

“The other thing is you got to trust them,” Biggs said. “One thing I talked to the governors, other governors, and they said, ‘Hey, Andy, you can’t believe what happens sometimes with your lieutenant governor when you’re gone.'”

The lieutenant governor’s duties remain largely undefined. The position is mainly designed for succession: If Biggs wins, Kerr would replace the secretary of state as the person next in line to serve as governor if the governor dies, resigns or is removed from office.

Why did Andy Biggs tap Sine Kerr as running mate in Arizona governor’s race?

Being the face of rural Arizona is a huge honor, Kerr said.

“To have the opportunity to represent agriculture at the state Legislature in the Senate, and then to move to the federal position and have that perspective and see how policy is critical, and go from being a policy maker to being one that then implements that policy on a federal level, and — it just really broadened my understanding and knowledge of how how critical we have to get that policy right,” Kerr told KTAR News.

These qualifications made her a good pick, Biggs explained.

He started considering lieutenant governor candidates months ago, and his campaign team focused on looking for someone who had the things he really needed.

“I want someone with the experience and the policy chops and the business chops and be able to actually reach out to people that I don’t reach I don’t reach out with. I’m an urban, suburban guy. I grew up south of the of the Gila,” Biggs explained. “The reality is going out to farms and stuff like that, I did that, but I was a visitor, you know. I need somebody who knows what’s going on and water is so critical for this state.”

He and Kerr met around five or six times before the partnership was set in stone. Along the way, he met with other candidates.

“Sine just checked every box,” Biggs said.

If Andy Biggs wins, what would her duties as lieutenant governor be?

Biggs said voters left the lieutenant governor’s duties up to the governor, giving him broad flexibility to define her role.

“I would anticipate that Sine would work in a specific department area and really work on that,” Biggs said. “We’re going to be a working administration. … We want to get out all over the state, so I would expect her to be like me.”

That means 24/7 boots on the ground, he explained.

“On weekends, we’re going to be working in the states. But we’re going to be working on policy because policy is lifestyle, and it’s success or failure of our economy and everything. So she’s going to be working with us right there, hand in glove,” Biggs said.

Gov. Katie Hobbs, the Democrat incumbent who Biggs is challenging, has yet to announce her running mate. She has until Sept. 4 to make her decision and has said she wouldn’t rule out picking a Republican.

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