Jan. 6 proponent Andy Biggs is running for Arizona governor

Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona announced Saturday that he is running for governor in 2026.

Biggs, a Jan. 6 proponent and member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, made the announcement at an Arizona Republican Party event, telling the crowd: “I am jumping in formally. It is now time to Make Arizona Great Again.”

Biggs, who helped Trump in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, told the conservative outlet Newsmax in an interview on Sunday that Arizona should be “the reddest state in the country.” His election would certainly be a step toward claiming that title.

Biggs is alleged to have been a key player in the deliberations among MAGA activists, Trump administration officials and far-right lawmakers who devised schemes for overturning Trump’s 2020 election. After the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, for example, far-right activist Ali Alexander — who organized the “stop the steal” rally that preceded the riot — has said Biggs was one of the lawmakers who helped him cook up that day’s plan to exert “maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting” to certify Joe Biden’s election victory, though Biggs hasn’t been accused of coordinating or promoting the violent attack on the Capitol. (Biggs has denied helping Alexander organize the Jan. 6 rally.)

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Alexander later testified to the House Jan. 6 committee that he’d been in contact with Biggs and other lawmakers in the lead-up to Jan. 6, 2021, which Biggs had denied. And former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson told the committee Biggs was one of multiple lawmakers who sought a pardon from Trump, which Biggs has also denied.  

It’s worth noting, however, that Alexander and Hutchinson made their claims under oath, which Biggs does not appear to have done. He refused to comply with a House subpoena to testify as part of the federal Jan. 6 investigation, but has been subpoenaed by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to testify in her ongoing, state-level Jan. 6 probe. There’s no indication Mayes is pursuing criminal charges against Biggs, and it’s unclear whether he has testified.

The representative celebrated Trump’s blanket pardon for Jan. 6 criminals, even greeting some of the recently released inmates and their supporters at a Washington, D.C., jail last week.

Biggs is the only Republican to declare his candidacy in the governor’s race thus far. Barring a successful primary challenge, he is likely to face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs next year.