AZ gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson supports tax cuts, condemns Gov. Hobbs’ record

PHOENIX — Karrin Taylor Robson is among the most likely to emerge from the dozen Republicans interested in taking the mantle from Gov. Katie Hobbs this November and is standing firm on tax cuts and housing affordability.

The former 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate, whom President Donald Trump has endorsed, told KTAR News’ The Mike Broomhead Show Thursday that expanding tax cuts in the state will tell the rest of the nation that Arizona is “once again open for business.”

“I will always look for opportunities to cut taxes, and my goal is for Arizona to have the lowest overall tax burden and regulatory burden in America,” Taylor Robson said.

She sat in the front row of the state legislature on Monday for Hobbs’ 2026 State of the State address and took shots at the incumbent leader for taking credit for sweeping national tax cuts via Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Hobbs criticized previously.

“(Hobbs) said these tax cuts were only for the rich and now she’s taking credit for those same tax cuts,” Taylor Robson said. “It’s quite ironic, and you know it’s certainly a telltale sign that we’re in an election year when she needs to try and run away from her radical agenda and her radical voting record.”

A bulk of the address targeted housing affordability and Hobbs followed that rhetoric up with a $17 billion executive budget proposal on Friday primarily looking to help “people pay for their utility bills and building more affordable housing,” a release said.

Taylor Robson said that Hobbs “shut down the construction of new houses” soon into her term and said her affordability emphasis in her budget proposal is only a way to try to solve the self-induced problem.

The Republican did, however, express confidence in the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors’ affordability efforts, as it unanimously voted last month to remove 53 pages of unneeded regulation that had caused price hikes and construction delays on home development.

Taylor Robson said that, generally speaking, nearly 25% of the cost for a new home is due to government regulation.

“I’ve spent my professional career as a business executive on the other side of the table from government, primarily local government, so I know firsthand the burdens of these types of regulations,” Taylor Robson said. “It’s up to the state and the local government to get rid of regulations that are no longer necessary.

“As governor and with my business background, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Taylor Robson went one step further, beyond this notion of ridding the state of wasted government regulation, pledging to attack financial abuse and tax dollar oversight.

If elected as Arizona’s next governor, she said the state will have “its own DOGE,” which Trump introduced nationally at the beginning of his second presidential term as the Department of Government Efficiency. Taylor Robson cited the ongoing “sober living home scandal” as an example of government operating inefficiently, as $2.5 billion has been injected into a program which has more than 130,000 enrolled who do not qualify for its benefits, according to the Republican.

“Gov. Hobbs, she inherited a $2.5 billion surplus from Gov. (Doug) Ducey. And last year, we had a $1.4 billion deficit,” Taylor Robson said. “That’s unacceptable. We’re going to root out waste, fraud and abuse at the state level wherever we find it.”

Taylor Robson is joined by U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs and David Schweikert as those most likely to challenge Hobbs for the governor’s seat.

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