Republican congressman Andy Biggs and No Labels Party candidate Teri Hourihan squared off in Phoenix on Tuesday in a debate that Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs chose to skip entirely. Green Party candidate Risa Lombardo also did not show up, leaving two candidates to lay out dueling visions for Arizona's economy, water supply and energy future just weeks before the November election.
The matchup was organized by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, according to FOX 10 Phoenix, which reported that Biggs and Hourihan were the only major-party candidates to participate while Hobbs declined and Lombardo simply did not attend. The debate was produced jointly by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission and the Arizona Media Association, according to AZPM.
Biggs, the incumbent congressman for Arizona's 5th Congressional District, was elected to Congress in 2016 after previously serving in the Arizona State Legislature, per the same FOX 10 Phoenix report. He's running as the Republican candidate for governor, while Hourihan is the No Labels Party candidate in the race.
Biggs Pitches Tax Cuts and Energy Independence
On stage, Biggs leaned into an agenda built around cutting Arizonans' tax burden. Days before the debate, he laid out a series of priorities that included eliminating the state income tax, expanding Empowerment Scholarship Account grants and promoting nuclear power, according to a report from Arizona Capitol Times. He has also said he supports working with local entities to reduce the property-tax burden, per FOX 10 Phoenix's account of the debate.
Biggs further backs reducing Arizona's reliance on California to lower fuel prices and increasing the amount of fuel supplied to the state from other sources, the station notes. On health policy, he supports ending medical mandates and ensuring what he calls vaccine freedom.
Hourihan Focuses on Water, Data Centers and Audits
Hourihan, who was born and raised in Glendale, became a licensed professional counselor in 2017 and founded a health practice the following year, the station's report states. She's running on a platform centered on what she describes as her three immediate priorities if elected: affordability, water security and agency reform, according to AZPM's candidate guide.
She has pledged to launch a water-security plan on day one of her administration that would expand conservation efforts, water recycling and new water supplies, per the same account. Hourihan has also called for a temporary moratorium on new large-scale data centers, saying on day one she would pursue the pause so that developments protect Arizona's water, energy and communities, according to AZPM. She's additionally proposed a comprehensive audit across state agencies, systems and political nonprofits meant to identify fraud, waste, abuse and conflicts of interest.
Hobbs Sits Out a Second Straight Debate Cycle
Hobbs's absence Tuesday was not an isolated move. She also declined to participate in a 2022 gubernatorial debate and did not debate primary opponent Marco Lopez that year, the Associated Press reported, per the station's account. That year she narrowly won the governor's seat by about 17,000 votes after declining to debate Kari Lake, according to the Arizona Mirror. The Biggs campaign had said he planned to participate in the Oct. 6 Clean Elections debate regardless of whether Hobbs showed up, the Mirror reported.
An August poll from Noble Predictive Insights found Hobbs leading Biggs among likely voters, 48% to 35%, with 12% undecided and 4% favoring a third-party candidate — a 13-point edge that predates Tuesday's debate. The poll, which surveyed 1,040 registered Arizona voters including 923 likely voters with margins of error of about 3.0% and 3.2% respectively, found Hobbs's share among registered voters had grown five points since May while Biggs's had fallen by the same margin, according to Noble Predictive Insights.
That same survey found likely voters trusted Hobbs more than Biggs on water management, education, housing affordability, the economy and the spread of data centers, while Biggs held a lead within the margin of error on immigration. The polling firm also found that roughly a third of independent likely voters said Hobbs's selection of running mate John Giles made them more likely to support her, compared with 18% who said it made them less likely.
Green Party Turmoil Surrounds Lombardo's Absence
Lombardo's no-show adds to a messier backstory within her own party. Her campaign website lists the Green Party's Four Pillars and the party's key values rather than her own policy positions, FOX 10 Phoenix reported. The Arizona Green Party's own website lists her candidacy as actively opposed, and the party formally asked Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to remove her from the general-election ballot, according to a statement posted by the Arizona Green Party.
The party asked that Lombardo be replaced with Carlos Melendez, even though Lombardo won the July 21 Green Party gubernatorial primary with 68% of the statewide vote to Melendez's 32%, per the Arizona Green Party's own account.
Write-In Candidates Left Off the Stage
Two Republican write-in candidates, Gertritrude Gonzalez and Alice Novoa, appear on the Arizona Secretary of State's office list but were not listed as invited debate participants, FOX 10 Phoenix reported.
With the debate behind them, Arizona's election calendar is now in full motion. The state's voter-registration deadline passed on October 5, meaning registration is now closed for the November contest, according to the Arizona Secretary of State. Early voting and the mailing of early ballots begin Wednesday, per FOX 10 Phoenix, ahead of the general election set for November 3.
