'Warning sign for Republicans' in key swing state after GOP candidate ends campaign: NYT

The New York Times reports a moderate Republican candidate is exiting the Republican primary for Arizona’s gubernatorial race, and Republicans now fret the office could be out of reach.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson announced she was dropping out on Thursday, which reflects President Donald Trump’s continued influence over the Republican Party.

Robson had initially earned Trump’s endorsement, but then Trump later changed course and endorsed Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). Additionally, Robson’s campaign had suffered attacks from hardline Turning Point USA conservatives and other MAGA sources for what they argued was Robson having insufficiently conservative politics.

“Her decision was another sign that the moderate brand of Republican politics long embodied by Senator John McCain of Arizona, who died in 2018, is no longer palatable to the state’s primary voters,” reports the Times, calling it a "warning sign for Republicans."

But Robson’s departure means the Republican field of contenders are lurching to the MAGA side of the party in a state that is increasingly friendly to Democrats. And it marks the second time Robson has lost to a more extreme Republican candidate. Four years ago, she lost to MAGA candidate Kari Lake, who then went on to lose the general election to now-Governor Katie Hobbs.

In the years since, the Times reports Arizona has elected two Democratic senators and a Democratic attorney general, as well as a secretary of state — despite earlier “being a solidly Republican bastion.”

“The state’s Democratic leadership is widely seen as a product of Republicans’ nominations of candidates perceived as too extreme by a general electorate,” reports the Times. “[And] some Republicans fear they are repeating the same mistake this year by elevating Mr. Biggs, a member of the hardline Freedom Caucus.”

A third Republican, state Rep. David Schweikert, entered the primary contest last fall, in part, he said, because he too feared the more radical Biggs would win the primary and then lose to Hobbs in a Kari Lake-style November collapse.

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