Trump's call to end mail-in voting creates a dilemma for GOP candidates
who benefit from it
[September 17, 2025]
By SEJAL GOVINDARAO
PHOENIX (AP) — President Donald Trump has vowed to do away with voting
by mail, but some of his Republican allies in two Western battleground
states are taking a more cautious approach.
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, one of two candidates with Trump's endorsement in
the Arizona governor's race, does not support the elimination of mail
voting altogether, though he previously questioned it after Trump's 2020
defeat. His primary challenger, developer Karrin Taylor Robson, also is
backed by Trump but hasn't gone as far as Biggs to declare where she
stands on eliminating mail voting.
The dilemma highlights a recurring challenge some GOP candidates face
heading into next year's midterm elections. They're scrambling to
balance their allegiance to Trump against the desire for convenience
among many Republican voters. That’s especially sensitive in the Arizona
governor’s contest, where Trump has taken the unorthodox approach of
giving his full-throated endorsement to both Biggs and Taylor Robson.
In an election cycle that historically tends to go against the sitting
president’s party, Trump's sweeping condemnation of mail voting gives
swing-state Republicans one more reason to worry.
Republicans helped by mail voting
GOP strategist Barrett Marson said mail voting helped Republicans win
Arizona races in the 2024 election, when Trump won the state overall by
more than five percentage points and the party expanded its legislative
majority.
“President Trump and his campaign had a very successful ballot-chasing
program in 2024, and so it would be nice for him to understand sort of
the way that works and how successful he was in that endeavor,” Marson
said.
Trump won about 51% of the 2,882,741 votes cast early in-person and by
mail in Arizona. In a television interview last month, state Republican
Party Chair Gina Swoboda also said the ballot chase and early vote
“helped deliver this election for Republicans.”
Although mail voting remains popular with voters, Trump on Truth Social
last month called for an end to the practice, with exceptions for those
who are very ill and “The Far Away Military.” Earlier this month, he
announced the relocation of U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama,
calling Colorado’s universal mail voting system a “big factor.”
Arizona margins have shrunk, and mail voting skepticism has grown
Trump has long cast doubt on mail voting, claiming it’s a pathway to
fraud even though there is no evidence of widespread problems. He sent
conflicting messages about it in 2024 as Republicans made a strategy
shift to focus on early voters ahead of the presidential election.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring that every vote cast is done
in a secure and transparent fashion to restore trust and integrity back
to American elections,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in
an email Tuesday.
In Arizona, where about 85% of voters statewide cast a mailed ballot,
the issue is particularly salient. Taylor Robson and Biggs themselves
both have been casting mail ballots for nearly two decades.
Arizona Republicans pioneered a vote-by-mail expansion in the 1990s. But
in recent years, the state has been whipsawed by election integrity
conspiracies, which have thrived in part because of vote-counting delays
in Maricopa County, the state's population center. Trump, for example,
lost statewide to former President Joe Biden in 2020 by 10,457 votes, or
0.3% of the nearly 3.4 million ballots cast, and falsely claimed the
election was stolen. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes beat her GOP
opponent in a 2022 election recount by only 280 votes, or 0.01
percentage points.
Maricopa County is the country's second-largest election jurisdiction,
after Los Angeles County. Counting mail ballots takes more time because
the envelopes must be scanned, ballots sorted and voters' signatures
inspected before the ballot can be tallied.
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Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., speaks as members of the conservative
House Freedom Caucus tell reporters about allegations that the
government spies on Americans, during a news conference at the
Capitol in Washington, Feb. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite,
File)
GOP candidates confront a dilemma
Though Taylor Robson aligned herself with Arizona business leaders
when she lost the governor’s race in 2022, she has since shifted to
the right. She sports a #MAGA in her X profile's bio and a “Make
Arizona Strong Again” slogan. In 2022, when she did not have Trump's
backing, she refused to say whether she would have certified the
2020 election results but didn't go so far as calling the election
fraudulent.
Her first television ad this year centered on Trump's support of her
run for governor — after he announced that he also supports Biggs.
She has said in an interview with a local radio station that she
agrees with the president on all major issues that matter to
Arizonans.
She side-stepped a question on voting by mail in a recent interview
with KTAR, noting that she agrees with Trump on the need to “restore
trust and integrity” in the elections but not explicitly stating
whether or not she’d like to see mail voting repealed. Her campaign
declined to elaborate.
Biggs, a former chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus,
supported Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election
being stolen. In praising the president's budget bill, he said he
would “always stand shoulder-to-shoulder” with Trump in his fight
against “bloated bureaucracy.”
But he breaks with the president when it comes to mail voting. Sean
Noble, a Biggs campaign consultant, said Biggs doesn't support
revoking mail voting. Since Trump’s announcement, Biggs has
encouraged in-person voting on the social platform X.
“Encouraging in person voting is not the same as repealing mail
voting,” Noble said in a text message. “He does not support
eliminating mail voting.”
Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who is running for
reelection, said she would protect mail-in voting.
Nevada governor faces a similar conundrum
A similar dynamic is in play in neighboring Nevada, where incumbent
Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, has been strategic in his public
support of Trump. He's endorsed the president but has looked to
build an independent profile as a moderate in another state where
close elections are commonplace.
Lombardo, who was endorsed by Trump in 2022, has stayed loyal but
rejected Trump’s false claims of the 2020 election being stolen.
In his reelection campaign launch Monday, Lombardo made no specific
mention of mail voting.
“I promised Nevadans I would fight for common sense election
reforms, like voter ID,” he said.
Lombardo's 2022 election was drawn out in part because of a 2020 law
requiring counties to accept mail ballots postmarked by Election
Day, even if they arrive four days later.
While all states allow some form of mail voting, Nevada is among
eight states and the District of Columbia that conduct all elections
almost entirely by mail. In three of the last four statewide
elections, more Nevadans voted by mail than voted in person. The
exception was the 2024 general election, when 45% of voters cast
their ballots by mail.
Lombardo, who has previously called for an end to “universal mail-in
ballots” and has supported stopping mail ballot counting after
Election Day, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. It's
unclear whether he currently agrees with Trump's call to do away
with mail voting altogether.
___
Associated Press journalist Maya Sweedler in Washington contributed
to this report.
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