Steve Bannon Questions Whether Republican Andy Biggs Is 'Tough Enough'

Steve Bannon asked on Wednesday whether Representative Andy Biggs, Arizona's Republican nominee for governor, is tough enough to unseat Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs. It was a rare show of doubt about a Freedom Caucus ally, three weeks before Election Day.

"As big as his campaign, now that we see it's closing within three to five points, or is his campaign, quite frankly, tough enough to push this over the top?" Bannon said on War Room. "Because people love Andy Biggs, but he's kind of a gentleman's gentleman, is he not?"

Bannon asked it as a question and surrounded it with praise. Biggs is "one of the best guys," he said, and later called him "a great man. Really, really good man." But he framed the race as "a knife fight," and he raised the point more than once. Near the end of the segment he said: "Andy Biggs, anything we do for Andy Biggs is such a gentleman and that's a knife fight out there."

Arizona Radio Host Says Listeners Are 'Beyond Frustrated'

The sharper words came from Bannon's guest, Garrett Lewis, a talk radio host on Phoenix's KFYI and Tucson's KNST.

"He is, and honestly, my listeners in Phoenix and in Tucson are beyond frustrated. I'm beyond frustrated," Lewis said. "Like, you know, we want fighters, and Andy doesn't play well in the mud, right?"

Lewis said his audience will still back Biggs because they dislike Hobbs more, "even though Andy hasn't done enough." He added: "I've said, we have to drag Andy across the finish line."

Bannon also went after the governor directly. "Hobbs is a, I think she's a criminal. She stole the election," he said. Hobbs beat Kari Lake by about 17,000 votes in 2022, and Arizona's courts rejected Lake's challenges to the result. The Arizona Supreme Court declined her final petition in November 2024.

What the Arizona Governor Polls Show

Bannon's three-to-five-point figure is kinder to Biggs than the recent polling. Hobbs leads Biggs 49.3 percent to 40 percent in PolitiKool's polling average, a margin of 9.3 points.

The last public polls that put the race within Bannon's range came in the spring. A Noble Predictive Insights survey taken May 5-7 had Hobbs ahead 41 percent to 37 percent, KTAR reported. Since then, Hobbs's leads have mostly been wider:

• AARP (Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research), July 26-28: Hobbs by 8 points, Fox 10 Phoenix reported
• Noble Predictive Insights, August 10-13: Hobbs 48 percent, Biggs 35 percent among likely voters, according to Fox 10 Phoenix
• Equis, September 1-9: Hobbs by 7 points among likely voters, in the firm's memo
• HighGround, mid-October: Hobbs by 17 points, Arizona's Family reported

Lewis brought up "a crazy poll that came out that said Biggs was down 13," a margin that matches the August Noble Predictive Insights survey. Bannon said "there was no way he was down by 10," and he suggested the polls are "kind of psyops." The Biggs campaign has questioned HighGround's methods and impartiality. The firm's Chuck Coughlin told Arizona's Family that the poll was funded internally.

Independents Hold the Balance in Arizona

Lewis said Republicans have an advantage "big time" in voter registration, but that "the independents, the people that don't wanna be Republicans or Democrats, they actually lead everybody."

Lewis read Biggs's establishment endorsements as a sign the race is tight. Former Governor Jan Brewer endorsed Biggs on July 24. Roughly a year earlier, she had said there was no way he could win the independents he would need. Former Governor Doug Ducey followed on August 4. Lewis called the pair "as establishment as they come." He said the campaign's message is: "if Doug and Jan wanna vote for us, that means you can vote for us too."

What Happens Next

Bannon has been arguing that the midterms will come down to turnout, and he has warned that war-weary Trump voters could stay home. On Wednesday he said disengaged independents sitting out "is a massive victory for MAGA." Rachel Keshel, a Republican candidate in Tucson, said that is what she is hearing at the doors.

Bannon ended the segment on Biggs this way: "He's a couple down, but I think these polls have been a sigh up. Now it's all about turning out the vote."