Donald Trump’s endorsement of Karrin Taylor Robson to be the next governor of Arizona has riled the more conservative elements of the state Republican Party.

During a wide-ranging speech in Phoenix on Sunday, the former and next president encouraged Robson, who has been making the rounds in GOP circles, to enter the race.

“You’re going to have my support,” Trump said from the podium.

And while Robson hasn’t formally announced, she thanked Trump on her social media post.

“I am beyond honored to have his support,” she wrote.

The presidential promotion drew immediate fire given Robson’s political history, not the least of which was endorsing former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie when he attempted to take on Trump in this year’s presidential race. Leading that criticism is state Sen. Jake Hoffman who is the head of the Arizona Freedom Caucus.

“Donald Trump should fire whichever executive consultant or staffer told him to endorse the UniParty McCain network candidate for Arizona governor,” the Queen Creek Republican wrote on X.

“She lost the 2022 (gubernatorial) primary for a reason,” he continued. “Arizona doesn’t want her open borders, pro-amnesty liberal policies,” calling her “the Swamp.”

State Rep. Jackie Parker, R-Mesa, in her own post, said having Trump get involved with endorsements in Arizona has “messed up the state.”

“He needs to just focus on Congress and stay out of our statewide races,” she wrote.

And the criticism is even coming from outside Arizona as Laura Loomer, who has pushed conspiracy theories but has long ties with Trump, registered her own objections.

Loomer pointed out that Robson two years ago filmed a TV commercial in support of Proposition 308 to create an exception to a previous voter-approved law that denied certain state benefits to those who are not here legally. Instead, the ballot measure spelled out that “dreamers” and certain other migrants brought here illegally as children could qualify for lower in-state tuition at state colleges and universities if they graduated from Arizona high schools.

“As a business leader and Republican, I will be voting ‘yes’ on Prop 308,” Robson stated. “It will improve Arizona’s economy by keeping skilled workers here in Arizona.”

It passed by a margin of 51.2% to 48.8% — over the opposition of the Arizona Republican Party.

That endorsement did not escape Rep. Austin Smith who, following the Trump comments on Sunday reminded his own followers on X.

“I don’t know who needs to hear this,” wrote the Wittman Republican. “But you aren’t America First if you do a commercial to give DACA students in-state tuition.”

Robson has had her own issues with Trump, forming an alliance with former vice president Mike Pence.

He endorsed her for governor in 2022 over Trump-supported Kari Lake. She returned the favor by hosting a fundraiser for him in 2023 during his own brief presidential bid.

And just days after Trump announced his bid to retake the White House in 2022, Robson, in a TV interview, said she saw the former president as a drag on the Republican Party.

“Somebody said – and I like the analogy – there’s fashion ‘dos’ and fashion ‘don’ts’, ” she said. “Trump used to be a fashion ‘do.’ And overnight he’s become a fashion ‘don’t.’ ”

Robson also incurred the wrath of the state GOP when she endorsed political independent Kevin Robinson in the 2023 race for Phoenix City Council over conservative Republican Sam Stone. That provoked a rebuke by the Arizona Republican Party and was stripped of her voting rights as a precinct committeewoman.

But whatever the opposition Robson will face from the conservative wing of the GOP, she already has the backing of others within the party.

In that mix is Congressman Juan Ciscomani who just won a second term in the U.S. House. He posted a message congratulating “my friend Karrin Taylor Robson” on the Trump endorsement.

That provoked a slap from talk show host Garrett Lewis who has criticized Republicans he does not consider sufficiently conservative.

“Another RINO (Republican In Name Only) circling the wagon for Karrin,” he posted. “The establishment is trying so hard to get back in power.”

But Trump’s comments also drew praise from state Rep. Travis Grantham who called the endorsement “outstanding.” The Gilbert Republican said the simple reason is political.

“She can win,” he told Capitol Media Services. “And Republicans need a candidate that can win to unseat Gov. (Katie) Hobbs.”

Grantham also called Robson “quite conservative” and said she worked very hard to get Republicans elected this time, crediting her with being one of the reasons Republicans picked up seats in both the state House and Senate. That includes more than $1.5 million she raised through Arizona PAC helping to fund GOP candidates this past election.

That support for Robson, however, resulted in Lewis giving Grantham the same RINO label as he did Ciscomani, something the state lawmaker brushed aside.

“You know, Ronald Reagan was a Democrat once,” Grantham said.

“Donald Trump was a Democrat once,” he continued. “What’s your point?”

Support for Robson among some key elements of the Republican Party is not new.

She gained the endorsement of outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey to succeed him in the 2022 Republican primary against Lake. But Lake still outpolled her by about 40,000 votes in the five-way race, even after former Congressman Matt Salmon told his supporters to instead vote for her.

That support, however, didn’t translate into victory in November 2022 as Lake lost to Hobbs by about 17,000 votes – results she still contests, as she does of her 2024 loss in the race for U.S. Senate to Democrat Ruben Gallego.

So far there are no announced candidates to take on Hobbs. But among the prospects is state Treasurer Kimberly Yee.

She actually announced her own gubernatorial candidacy in May 2021 to succeed Ducey. But that campaign lasted less than a year after both Lake and Robson got into the race.

Yee then easily won reelection to her own post in 2022 in a year that was bad for Republicans on the state level, not just with Hobbs winning the gubernatorial race but Adrian Fontes getting elected secretary of state and Kris Mayes winning the race for attorney general. But at this point reelection to her own office is not an option as the Arizona Constitution limits her to two four-year terms.

Yee, in a statement Monday to Capitol Media Services, was noncommittal about her political future, saying she has “been asked to seriously consider running for governor.”

“I love Arizona,” she said. “It’s where I was born and raised, and more than ever, we need strong, trusted leadership.”

The other is Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, the group that organized Sunday’s event where Trump backed Robson. Requests for comment went unanswered.

But Robson may have something that both lack: Access to cash, including her own. She managed to spend more than $23 million in her ill-fated bid to be the GOP nominee for governor in 2022, including $18.4 million of her own money.

Robson made her first run for governor while a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, a position she got from Ducey, saying she was “committed to do whatever it takes to defend Arizona from the radical left.”

Her day job is as founder and president of Arizona Strategies, which is involved with development. She previously worked with DMB Associates, a Scottsdale-based master-planned community developer.

Before that she was an attorney where she practiced in the areas of land use, development and zoning laws representing large landowners.

In the bio she released in the 2022 campaign she boasted of that role, saying she “fought on behalf of economic growth and projects that have enabled thousands of new jobs for Arizona families.” 

While she has never held political office, she has some genetic ties to those who have.

Her father, Carl Kunasek, was president of the Arizona Senate who later went on to serve on the Arizona Corporation Commission. Brother Andrew Kunasek served as a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.