Key Points:

• President Donald Trump gave shout outs, not endorsements, to down ballot Republicans

• Elected Republicans coalesced around gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs

• Remarks targeted Democrats, emphasized governor’s race and control of U.S. House

President Donald Trump rallied Arizona’s conservatives in Phoenix on Friday with less than 100 days to go before several Republican hopefuls battle it out in the state’s primary election.

A host of state candidates attended the “Build the Red Wall” rally hosted by Turning Point in pursuit of an endorsement from the president. Many left without any official stamp of approval. 

Meanwhile, the Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation hammered home the importance of maintaining control of Arizona’s U.S. House seats to keep the conservative trifecta in Washington, D.C and further Trump’s political agenda.

But the governor’s race and other down ballot contests seemed top of mind for all of Friday’s speakers. Some argued that unseating incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs should be the top priority for Arizona Republicans.

“Arizona can’t trust Katie Hobbs, you cannot afford Katie Hobbs, and we cannot and must not re-elect Katie Hobbs,” Congressman Andy Biggs, a candidate for governor, told the crowd.

The Friday visit marks the president’s first appearance in the state this year ahead of the midterm elections. 

While Biggs, widely viewed as the frontrunner in the Republican primary for governor, secured his endorsement from the president in 2025, Trump hasn’t yet handed down endorsements in the Republican primaries for attorney general and secretary of state, and declined to do so today. 

Some candidates are still working to build a coalition among Arizona Republicans, but Biggs is not one of them. Speakers and attendees offered stalwart support for his candidacy, praising his conservative bona fides and sporting “Biggs for Governor” merch. 

Senate President Warren Petersen hoped to get the nod over Rodney Glassman for the attorney general’s race, while secretary of state hopeful Rep. Alex Kolodin sought a boost over Trump’s past pick for chair of the Republican Party of Arizona, Gina Swoboda. 

Trump gave Petersen, Kolodin and Treasurer Kimberly Yee — who is hoping to unseat Superintendent Tom Horne — a shoutout during his remarks, but stopped short of throwing his full weight behind their campaigns. He spent roughly the same amount of time calling out professional athletes who were in attendance as he did local politicians. 

Petersen acknowledged the lack of formal endorsement but said he was still honored to get a mention.

“It’s a shout out,” Petersen said. “It’s amazing to have the president of the United States give you a shout out like that and say nice things.” 

Congressman Paul Gosar, meanwhile, vouched for Glassman over Petersen for attorney general, producing some simultaneous groans and scattered claps from the crowd.

Every member of the state’s Republican congressional delegation spoke, with the exception of Biggs’ primary challenger, U.S. Rep. David Schweikert. Biggs even took a jab at Schweikert, joking that the president would hang up the phone if the congressman attempted to call him.

U.S. Reps. Juan Ciscomani, Abe Hamadeh, Eli Crane and Gosar all voiced ongoing support for Trump’s agenda but courted the most applause, or boos, when mentioning elected Democrats in statewide and federal offices. 

Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Sen. Ruben Gallego were frequent targets of the speakers.

“Arizona has been captured by the radical left,” Hamadeh told the crowd. “Look, we have a cartel lawyer as secretary of state, we have an illegitimate climate activist parading around as an attorney general, and we’ve got a crooked disaster holding us back, Katie Hobbs.”

Hamadeh hit on election integrity in his remarks and took the opportunity to once again claim the 2022 election, in which he lost his bid for attorney general to Mayes, was “stolen.”

Crane called the current political climate “a spiritual war” and again pushed for control of the House and the governor’s office.

“Republicans aren’t the solution to all of your problems,” Crane said. “But Democrats are pretty much the cause of all of your problems.” 

Ciscomani centered his speech around the American dream and shared his story of immigrating to the U.S., becoming a citizen in 2006 and running for Congress, and winning, 16 years later. 

At the same time, his colleagues spoke about controlling Arizona’s “open border” and slammed Hobbs and other Democrats for eliminating the state’s Border Coordination Task Force and voting to shut down the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Crane deemed the governor’s office the most important race this cycle and called out the cavalry to vote for Biggs. 

“I’m going to talk about the most important race coming up here in this state,” Crane said. “You guys have an opportunity to represent, in my opinion, the best candidate for governor in the entire country.”