Basement Biggs Skips Second Forum in a Row
7/3/26, 6:00 PM
Last week, Basement Biggs skipped the Sun City West Republican forum, the second debate he's skipped after ducking out on a televised PBS candidate forum.
He’s earned the nickname Basement Biggs and at Sun City West, his rivals made sure voters knew why. GOP candidate Scott Neely tore into Biggs for hiding from events and directed voters to “The Biggs Files,” an “alarming” record of votes Biggs has taken to protect sex traffickers and predators.
Neely also challenged Biggs directly: "Andy Biggs didn't show up today because he doesn't want to face me in a forum where my microphone is not muted."
Meanwhile, David Schweikert warned that nominating an extremist like Biggs will lead to “dark, dark and troubled times.”
Biggs continues to run from Arizona voters and the press, refusing to answer basic questions about his support for cost-hiking tariffs, his votes for healthcare cuts that have increased costs for Arizona families, his role in trying to overturn Arizona’s 2020 election results, and his ties to the extremist figures and organizations that even his own Republican opponents have repeatedly raised concerns about.
Read more below:
Sun City West Independent: Biggs absent as GOP gubernatorial candidates clash at Sun City West forum
July 1, 2026
Noah Flug
Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial primary took center stage June 27 as candidates Scott Neely and U.S. Rep. David Schweikert debated before a crowd of more than 100 Sun City and Sun City West residents, while frontrunner U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs skipped the event and instead addressed attendees through a prerecorded video.
The forum at Palm Ridge Recreation Center was originally scheduled to feature all three Republican candidates. Biggs did not attend, with campaign staffer Grant Steiber citing a “scheduling conflict” and declining further comment.
Biggs’ absence quickly became an issue during the forum, with both Neely and Schweikert suggesting the congressman was avoiding a live debate.
“Andy Biggs didn’t show up today because he doesn’t want to face me in a forum where my microphone is not muted,” Neely said.
Schweikert struck a similar tone, telling the audience, “You’ve got to show up at every group like this. You show up everywhere and you earn it.”
The candidate repeatedly attacked Biggs throughout the forum, urging voters to examine what he called the “Biggs Files” on his campaign website.
“I want to point out the Biggs Files,” Neely said. “It’s his voting record. … There are other things there too, and it’s quite alarming.”
Closing the debate, Schweikert argued that Republicans face a pivotal election.
“As of a month ago, there are now more Independents in Arizona than there are Republicans,” he said. “If we do not win the Independents, we are in dark, dark and troubled times.”
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