Veto stamp hangs in the balance in governor's race
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Andy Biggs and Katie Hobbs are vying for control of the Arizona governor's veto stamp. Photos: Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images and Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
Gov. Katie Hobbs' record-setting list of vetoes could provide a road map to the types of bills Andy Biggs would sign if he were elected.
Why it matters: Major decisions about elections, immigration, school choice, transgender rights, groundwater policy, taxes, fentanyl sentencing and more will hinge on who wins the governor's race.
Catch up quick: Biggs, a five-term U.S. House member and former state Senate president, is the GOP nominee for governor and hopes to unseat Hobbs next month.
By the numbers: Hobbs, whom some have dubbed Arizona's "Veto Queen," has shattered state records.
- She broke the single-session veto record in her first year with 143, and broke it again in 2025 with 174.
- In four years, she's rejected 541 bills.
- The previous record holder was Democrat Janet Napolitano, with 58 vetoes in 2005 and 181 in her six years as governor.
Zoom in: Biggs has recently criticized Hobbs for vetoing legislation to add more sex offender notification requirements, create tougher penalties for fentanyl crimes and opt Arizona into a federal school voucher program.
- And in public pronouncements and campaign speeches, Biggs and his campaign have pointed to vetoed bills that he would've signed.
For example, Biggs' "Make Arizona Healthy Again" plan includes provisions of several vetoed bills, such as legislation to loosen vaccine requirements for college students, require schools to provide additional information about vaccine exemptions and ban Arizonans from using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to buy soda.
State of play: Biggs and his campaign have also said they'd sign legislation to:
- Require anyone bidding on a state contract to disclose contributions to a governor's campaign or other entities that supported a governor's election or inauguration, which Republicans passed in response to pay-to-play allegations against Hobbs.
- Require noncitizens with commercial driver's licenses to prove legal immigration status in order to operate commercial vehicles in Arizona.
The intrigue: Biggs' tendency when he was state Senate president was to push the envelope on conservative policy and to compromise only when necessary, which isn't likely to happen if he's governor and has a Republican Legislature.
What they're saying: "I'm inclined to consider and probably sign a whole host of bills by Republicans that were vetoed by her," Biggs tells Axios, adding that Hobbs has vetoed bipartisan bills too.
- Biggs said he couldn't say whether he'd sign any bill without reading it first, and said some vetoed legislation could undergo changes before being reintroduced if he were governor.
The other side: "Andy Biggs is promising to give extremists free rein to turn their dangerous agenda into law," Hobbs spokesperson Michael Beyer tells Axios.
Flashback: In 2009, Napolitano resigned to join the Obama administration, elevating Republican Jan Brewer to the governor's office. Republicans unleashed a torrent of conservative bills.
- Brewer signed legislation restricting abortion rights, expanding gun rights and cracking down on illegal immigration in the form of the controversial Senate Bill 1070.