KJZZ Report: RELIGION & POLITICS > The Latter-Day Rivalry To Gain Higher Office in the seat of Arizona's Race for Governor

PLEASE NOTE: This piece is a 19:29-minute interview by Lauren Gilger with a reporter working for Deseret News in Utah

Brigham Tomco covers politics for Deseret News in Salt Lake City, and as he calls it, this is a battle of the BYU grads. Biggs and Giles are both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and graduates of its flagship school, Brigham Young University.

BYU alums Biggs, Giles are the latest in a long history of Mormon influence on Arizona politics 

Gage Skidmore

Andy Biggs (left) and John Giles

KJZZ | By Lauren Gilger

Published August 19, 2026 at 1:03 PM MST

LINK: KJZZ The Show

LAUREN GILGER: The political world is abuzz with the news that we, for the first time ever, officially have two lieutenant governor picks. Republican candidate Andy Biggs chose former state lawmaker and dairy farmer Sine Kerr, and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs made a more unconventional choice in picking former Mesa mayor and former Republican John Giles.

RELATED FROM MESAZONA BLG ARCHIVES 

Trump lashes out at Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey for 'rushing to put a Democrat in office' after he appeared to IGNORE a call from the White House during press conference certifying Biden's win

• Arizona Gov Doug Ducey appeared to ignore call from White House Monday  
• Video showed him receiving a call while trying to certify state's vote for Biden
• Trump later lashed out at Ducey for 'rushing to put a Democrat in office'
• Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis appeared at a hearing-style event in Arizona on Monday as the state certified its election results that favored Biden 
• Trump called into the event about 7pm, saying: 'The 2020 election was rigged it was a scam and the whole world is watching and they're laughing at our country'
• Giuliani said thousands of illegal immigrants voted in Arizona without evidence

By Valerie Edwards and Geoff Earle, Deputy U.s. Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 00:46 EST, 1 December 2020 | Updated: 03:08 EST, 1 December 2020

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trump issues warning to Arizona governor over siding with Biden

President: Republicans 'will long remember'

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times
Monday, November 30, 2020

---

President Trump on Monday accused Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, of “rushing” to certify the state’s election for presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden.

“Why is he rushing to put a Democrat in office, especially when so many horrible things concerning voter fraud are being revealed at the hearing going on right now,” the president tweeted after Mr. Ducey signed the state certification of Mr. Biden’s win

 court. . ." READ MORE

www.nogalesinternational.com

Sheriff warns of arrests if shipping containers installed on border in Santa Cruz County

 

Crews sent by Gov. Doug Ducey are currently installing shipping containers along the U.S.-Mexico border in Cochise, a few miles from the Santa Cruz County line.

Photo by Melissa del Bosque

Angela Gervasi • Nogales Internationa

Trump blasts Ducey over election certification, says he betrayed Arizonans

Politico

Arizona standoff: Ducey vs. Trump in proxy race for next governor - POLITICO

Trump Campaign Coordinated Michigan Fake 2020 Elector Scheme: Report

BOMBSHELL REVELATION

Alex Nguyen

Breaking News Intern

Published Jan. 05, 2024 12:09PM EST 

Today’s action delivers on Governor Ducey’s State of the State promise that if Washington, D.C. will not do its part to secure our border, Arizona will.  In his signing letter the governor said, “As I sign this bill today, we are taking an additional action to do the job Washington, D.C. refuses to. More action is needed from the federal government, but with these targeted investments Arizona is putting the safety of our state and nation first.” The governor also signed today: S.B. 1490 appropriation; Cesar Chavez Boulevard (Otondo) S.B. 1564 on-farm irrigation efficiency; fund; appropriation (Shope) S.B. 1712 victim notification; victims’ rights; appropriation (Gowan)

BACKGROUND Governor Ducey has a strong track record of taking action and supporting efforts to secure the border.  In May, the governor called on the leaders of social media companies to step up and take action to protect youth from cartel recruiting messages luring them into transnational human smuggling activity.  On April 19, Governor Ducey and 25 other governors launched the American Governors' Border Strike Force, a partnership to do what the federal government won’t: secure the southern border. Governors Ducey and Abbott joined Martha MacCallum on Fox News to talk about the initiative that same day.  On April 1, Governor Ducey called on the Biden administration to maintain Title 42 to protect public health and safety.  In his January State of the State address, Governor Ducey proposed the idea for the American Governors' Border Strike Force. He said, “Texas Governor Greg Abbott and I are teaming up to form the American Governors' Border Strike Force – a commitment between states to do what the Biden administration is unwilling to do: Patrol and secure our border.” On December 7, 2021, the governor surged and repositioned Arizona’s public safety resources to address the Biden Border Crisis in Yuma, Arizona. On November 30, 2021, Governor Ducey sent a team of the state’s top law enforcement officers to meet with their counterparts in Texas to discuss the current border crisis, share best practices, and discuss future partnerships, including the American Governors’ Border Strike Force. The delegation included Major General Kerry Muehlenbeck, Department of Public Safety Director Heston Silbert and Department of Homeland Security Director Tim Roemer.  On October 6, 2021, Governor Ducey joined Governor Abbott and eight other governors in Mission, Texas, for a border security briefing and press conference, where they detailed a ten-point plan for the Biden administration to resolve the border crisis. On September 20, 2021, Governor Ducey and 25 fellow governors requested an urgent meeting with President Biden to find meaningful solutions to the border crisis. Their hope was to meet with the president and his team directly to discuss actions the administration can take. Secretary Mayorkas responded two months later on November 24, but has not taken meaningful actions.  In July 2021, Governor Ducey successfully lobbied the Biden administration to continue Title 42 border protections and called on Congress to protect Title 42 from future Biden interference.     On June 10, 2021, Governor Ducey and Governor Abbott sent a letter to all U.S. governors asking them to send available law enforcement resources to the border.  On May 11, 2021, Governor Ducey joined 19 fellow governors to call on President Biden and Vice President Harris to reverse their destructive border policies. On April 20, 2021, ​​Governor Ducey issued a Declaration of Emergency and deployed the Arizona National Guard to the state’s southern border to support local law enforcement efforts. RELATED CONTENT 05 February 2022 KARRIN (KUSANEK) TAYLOR ROBSON: Mesa Republican Running for Governor / A Bordeline Conservative After making a family-fortune in Real Estate here in The East Valley and snagging endorsement from two former governors the race to succeed Doug Ducey in the August election cycle is taking strange turns for the one-time Democrat who's changed her spots - her paid political ads that sound so much like another candidate Jim Lamon. They sound so much like Matt Salmon too and that all smells very 'fishy' Why the Arizona Governor's Race Is Important... and Amazingly Unusual              By Cameron Arcand Jan 19, 2022 4:23 PM ET ". . The current standing of each candidate in the race is not entirely clear, except Robson is now beginning to make use of her cash by running the first television advertisements of the entire race in order to make gains. . . Robson launched her ad campaign on the airwaves and is on track to keep running them until the election. Although money and television do not always equal votes, this could make the primary more competitive than originally thought.