PHOENIX (AP) — As the head of the conservative Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House, Rep. Andy Biggs was one of the Republican Party’s most hard-line brawlers in Washington, championing President Donald Trump’s agenda while frustrating establishment leaders. U.S. Rep. David Schweikert says those uncompromising tactics are a losing recipe in Arizona, where Republicans have watched their power erode as voters rejected nominees seen as too extreme. After decades coexisting in the fractious Arizona Republican Party, Biggs and Schweikert are on a collision course in Tuesday’s primary for governor. The race has become a clash of competing visions for reviving the once-dominant GOP to take on Katie Hobbs, the most vulnerable Democratic governor in the country.Biggs, endorsed by Trump and backed by Turning Point Action, built his political career as a skilled Republican infighter, but he’s never faced a tough campaign against a Democrat. Schweikert, meanwhile, is trying to resurrect a version of the party that is becoming increasingly anachronistic.“Biggs lives in a district where if he were a turtle running as a Republican, you’re going to win it,” said Kathleen Dunbar, 75, a former member of the Tucson City Council who plans to vote for Schweikert on Election Day. “Schweikert lives in a district that’s very much like the state of Arizona, where he has to win the independents. And he’s done it eight times in the last 16 years.”
Andy Biggs and David Schweikert offer competing visions for Republican Party in Arizona primary
Rep. Andy Biggs and Rep. David Schweikert are clashing in the Republican primary for Arizona governor.










