Karrin Taylor Robson and Kimberly Yee, both Republicans, announced their bids for Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial race Monday.
Taylor Robson is a member of the Arizona Board of Regents and president and founder of Arizona Strategies, a land-use strategy company. She was reappointed to ABOR by Gov. Doug Ducey in 2020 after first being appointed to fill a vacant seat in 2017. If she wins in 2022, she will be tasked with appointing her replacement.
"In just a few months, we've seen the direction Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want to take this country, and as Arizonans we need to fight back," Taylor Robson said in a video announcing her candidacy.
Yee, the current state treasurer, launched her bid Monday morning on Twitter, asking voters to stop “the attacks on our state by the socialist agenda and stand with me.”
Yee, a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment conservative, has served as state treasurer since 2019. She was an Arizona state representative from 2011 to 2013, a state senator from 2013 to 2019 and the state Senate majority leader from 2017 to 2019.
Taylor Robson comes from a family of prominent Arizona Republicans, including her father, Carl Kunasek, who was president of the state Senate , and her brother Andrew Kunasek, who was a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. She supports building the economy, developing Arizona’s education system and fostering civic engagement.
Yee, a supporter of former president Donald Trump, promises to continue his fight for border and election security and to fight back against “Washington and the socialist agenda.”
Taylor Robson is also a Trump supporter and promises to fight for conservative values and protect Arizona from "the radical left," she said on her campaign website.
The two Republicans join former Nogales Mayor Marco López, a Democrat, in the 2022 race to succeed Ducey.
Other potential Republican candidates include former congressman Matt Salmon, former Ducey chief of staff Kirk Adams and Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Chucri.
Possible Democratic candidates are Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton.
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Reagan Priest is a managing editor, overseeing and working with the six digital desks at The State Press. She previously worked as a social justice reporter for Cronkite News and as a digital production intern at The Arizona Republic.
