PHOENIX — Turning Point Action didn’t leave a single stone unturned for Rep. Andy Biggs’ first rally in his bid for governor —sixteen months ahead of the 2026 election.
At the rally, Biggs made it clear he is all in on President Donald Trump’s plan to reinstitute federalism. When the president does give the power back to the states, Arizona will need “a strong, conservative governor,” Biggs told the attendees at the rally, held in a ballroom at the Arizona Biltmore Resort Saturday evening.
More than a thousand people showed up to support Biggs in the sweltering desert heat, with temperatures rising above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
What is Biggs’ vision for the Grand Canyon State? He joked he wants to make Arizona “the Florida of the West,” a nod to his colleague Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who plans to run for governor of the Sunshine State. Donalds expressed support for Biggs in a video showed at the rally.
Like Biggs, Donalds launched his bid earlier this year. For that, Biggs called him, jokingly, a “copy cat.”
“Byron, here’s the deal, my good friend, you’re going to win. I’m going to win, and about 90 days after we win, in particular me, you’re going to see the tail lights in Arizona scream past you,” Biggs said.
“The idea was to initially be the Florida of the West, but we don’t want to be just the Florida of the West. We want to be the most free, most prosperous, safest state, and that’s what we’re going to do,” he added.
Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point Action, marveled at the idea of making the Grand Canyon State the “new Florida.”
Biggs thanked his many friends who showed up and spoke in support of him, including Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah.
Other Republicans who turned out included Arizona Reps. Eli Crane and Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert of Colorado as well as former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also made an appearance in a pre-recorded video. Biggs “works harder than just about anybody you could ever meet in Congress, or anybody who exists,” Lee said in the video message, and asked the attendees to “join the friends of Biggs club,” of which he said he’s a proud member.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaks during the Utah Republican Party’s state organizing convention held at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, May 17, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Turning Point Action brings back energy to Arizona politics
It’s hard to ignore Biggs’ lucky streak. For starters, in 1993, he won a $10 million sweepstakes. More recently, in 2016, he initially won the Republican primary for his congressional district by nine votes, although the recount showed a 27 vote difference.
But this Brigham Young University graduate and Latter-day Saint has an extensive history in politics that goes beyond the congressional seat he has held since 2016.
Biggs served as an Arizona state representative for eight years before being elected as a state senator, then served as the state Senate majority leader and Senate president during three legislative sessions.
“Andy was one of the first to endorse me when I ran back in 2020 and he and his wife, Cindy, came up to Utah,” Owens recalled in a conversation with the Deseret News ahead of the event.
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, speaks as part of a panel during the Utah Republican Party’s state organizing convention held at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, May 17, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
“We sat in an IHOP and just talked a little bit. … I have a lot of respect for him.”
According to Owens, Biggs understands the America First agenda, and should he become governor, the Arizona representative would have a connection to Washington, D.C., knowing exactly “what levers to pull, who to talk with and how it works.”
Attendees at the Biggs rally took their MAGA hats, shirts and other gear out for a serious spin for the first time since the 2024 presidential election.
“It’s what hope looks like,” Owens said about the energy at the rally.
One attendee, Phoenix Union High School District board member Jeremiah Cota from Laveen, Ariz., thinks it may have to do with Gov. Katie Hobbs’ record.
“You don’t fill a room with this many people unless the energy is on your side,” he said. “People have seen what Katie Hobbs has done. It’s a disaster for Arizona,” Cota said, calling her a “veto governor.”
According to the Phoenix New Times, Hobbs vetoed 216 bills during the latest state legislative session, far more than the 143 bills she vetoed in 2023 and 73 in 2024. Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature.
Owens said he doesn’t think the fact that President Donald Trump has endorsed two Republican candidates for governor in Arizona will be a problem for Biggs, especially given the Arizona representative’s personal relationship with the president.
Biggs touted his endorsement from Trump but didn’t mention his Republican opponent, attorney Karrin Robson, who also has Trump’s support.
“There’s a difference between being endorsed by Mr. Trump and being endorsed by President Trump (and) having his personal cell,” Biggs said. “And we have a kind of mutual respect,” he said, adding their friendship goes beyond Congress.
During Trump’s first administration, Biggs said Trump invited him “to go sit in this box (at) the World Series,” but “that’s not the highlight of knowing” the president.
Biggs also served on the Latter-day Saints for Trump committee during the 2024 election.
A decade of Trump
Before bringing Biggs up to the stage, Kirk spoke about the need to “remember.”
“The Bible says over and over, remember, remember, remember … because remembering leads towards constructive action,” Kirk said.
Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk speaks before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives at the Turning Point Believers’ Summit, Friday, July 26, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. | Alex Brandon
Kirk reminded the audience that the very first Trump rally took place in Phoenix. This milestone helped cement the term “MAGA” into the mainstream conversation. From that rally through the last several election cycles, Kirk said Trump “was tested” before he finally won a second term in 2024.
“What started here in Arizona 10 years ago is still continuing,” Kirk said of the initial rally.
Diane Anderson, the president of the Leisure World Republican Club in Mesa, Ariz., was one of the thousands of people to attend the first rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in 2015.
“We stood outside for hours. It was so hot,” Anderson said. The venue didn’t have any chairs set up so they stood close to the stage.
“There were speakers, and when Donald Trump came on … I thought that he was rude,” she said, laughing. But after he spoke about shutting down the southern border, she said she was all in and has been a staunch supporter ever since.
A decade later, now at Biggs’ rally, Anderson said she thinks Turning Point Action is revitalizing the Republican Party. “They’re not turning the government around but they’re changing minds of the young people. .. And that’s what we need.”
Anderson said she considers Biggs “a dear personal friend” of hers and thinks this election an important one.
Arizona has 300,000 more registered Republican than Democratic voters and Trump won this swing state by 5.5% last year.
“They call us a red state. How can we be a red state with a Democrat governor, a Democrat secretary of state, a Democrat attorney general, and our legislature, (which) is red just by a hair,” she said.
