Hobbs launches first negative TV ad against Biggs in Arizona

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ (D) campaign launched its first negative TV ad against Republican gubernatorial nominee Andy Biggs after the House Republican clinched the GOP’s nod Tuesday.

The ad hammers the Arizona Republican over inflation as well as his support for legislation that would have created a federal sales tax instead of federal income and payroll taxes.

“Inflation rose 4.2 percent over the past year,” audio from a news clip of a broadcast journalist can be heard saying in the 30-second ad, “No Clue,” which was first shared with The Hill. 

“But Andy Biggs says” a narrator says in the ad, before cutting to clip of Biggs saying, “No inflation, and yet the tariffs seem to be working.” 

“More like, no clue. Biggs does have a plan to raise prices 23 percent more. A sales tax on everything. Gas. Groceries. Rent. A Biggs tax hit on family budgets,” the narrator continues. “Another bad idea pushed on Arizona by a Washington politician. Andy Biggs’ big 23 percent sales tax. It’s 100 percent wrong for Arizona.” 

Biggs easily defeated Republican Rep. David Schweikert (Ariz.) for the GOP nomination to take on Hobbs this November. The former chair of the House Freedom Caucus notched key endorsements from President Trump in addition to the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk and his wife Erika Kirk. 

Biggs has defended the president’s tariff agenda, including in an April 2025 column written in The Hill, arguing that inflation as well as the cost of commodities like oil and gas were going down because of Trump’s trade policy.

The ad references an interview the Arizona Republican did with Breitbart News in July 2025, when he lauded the economic indicators under the president at the time. 

“Last month was the first month in almost nine years, I believe it is, that we actually had a budget surplus and not a structural deficit. First month in over nine years,” Biggs told the conservative news outlet.  

“Think about that. That’s an awesome thing. And this notion of the economy, where you have no inflation, and yet the tariffs seem to be working, which is blowing the minds of all the economists,” he continued. “They’re having a meltdown.” 

Biggs was referring to the Treasury Department’s monthly treasury statement, which found that U.S. had a budget surplus of $27 billion in June 2025. However, those gains were reversed a year later due to tariff-related refunds, pushing the government’s finances back to a $120 billion deficit, according to Reuters.

The ad also references Biggs’ support for the FairTax Act of 2025, which he co-sponsored. The legislation sought to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and establish a 23 percent federal sales tax by 2027 in place of taxes on federal income, payroll and gift taxes.

The legislation has not been taken up by the House Ways and Means Committee.  

“Andy Biggs says there’s ‘no inflation,’ then turns around and champions a 23 percent sales tax that would make everyday essentials even more expensive for Arizona families,” Hobbs campaign spokesman Michael Beyer said in a statement. “Andy Biggs’ 23 percent sales tax is 100 percent wrong because Arizona families can’t afford another Washington politician making life more expensive.”

Democrats are seizing on affordability as a theme to attack Republicans ahead of the midterms amid voter frustrations with the economy and tough political headwinds for the GOP.

Bigg’s senior campaign adviser Drew Sexton pushed back on Hobbs in a statement to The Hill.

“Voters know Andy Biggs has worked for pro-growth tax reform in his time as Senate President and in Congress and they’re ready to see him eliminate the state income tax as their next Governor,” he added.

Biggs has sought to cast himself as a lawmaker who can reach across the aisle and work with Democrats, yet he’s made a name for himself as a staunch defender of Trump’s who once led the hardline House Freedom Caucus.  

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates Hobbs’s seat as “lean Democrat.” 

Updated at 12:50 p.m. EDT

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