Arizona Regent Karrin Taylor Robson joins GOP race for governor
May 18, 2021, 10:03 AM
PHOENIX – Republican Karrin Taylor Robson, a member of the board that governs Arizona’s public universities, has entered the 2022 race for governor.
Taylor Robson, secretary of the Arizona Board of Regents, announced her intentions on Monday afternoon, hours after state Treasurer Kimberly Yee threw her hat into the GOP ring.
And like Yee, Taylor Robson touted her opposition to the Biden administration in a campaign launch video.
“In just a few months we’ve seen the direction Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want to take this country, and as Arizonans we need to fight back,” she said.
“We’re going to fight for Arizona values, and I’m going to spend the next few months visiting your community and hearing from you about how we can stand together and fight the radical Biden-Harris agenda.”
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Political analyst Emily Ryan of Phoenix-based Copper State Consulting told KTAR News 92.3 FM prior to Monday’s announcement that Taylor Robson, a seasoned political fundraiser, already has been touring the state to discuss her interest in running.
The candidate “has been sort of at the helm of the fundraising efforts … that the state Senate and House do aside from the Republican Party, and she’s been ingratiating herself to big donors for years while leading that charge,” Ryan said.
Taylor Robson, who called herself a “lifelong conservative Republican” in her video, is the founder and president of Phoenix-based land use strategy company Arizona Strategies.
Gov. Doug Ducey named her to the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, in 2017.
She now seeks to succeed Ducey, who can’t run for governor in 2022 because of term limits.
Ryan said Yee and Taylor Robson are strong candidates in a Republican field that could get tougher if state Attorney General Mark Brnovich enters the race.
Former Nogales Mayor Marco Lopez is the only Democrat with political experience to have launched a campaign for governor, but Ryan speculated that big names such as Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton could join him.
“I expect it to be crowded on both sides,” Ryan said.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.
