Schweikert Escalates Infighting With New Memo Attacking Rivals and Calling On Karrin Taylor Robson To Drop Out

David Schweikert has escalated the Arizona GOP’s already bitter primary, circulating a new memo that attacks his opponents as weak candidates who can’t win — and explicitly calls on Karrin Taylor Robson to drop out of the race altogether. 

This week, Schweikert’s campaign distributed a memo branding Taylor Robson a “lobbyist,” “unelectable,” and the “antithesis of an outsider,” arguing her “days as a viable candidate” have “always been numbered.” The memo also criticizes her past comments about Donald Trump and concedes that next year’s midterm elections will be challenging for Republicans in Arizona. It concludes by flatly asserting that Taylor Robson “cannot win” and urges her supporters to push her out of the race.

That message reflects Schweikert’s approach since entering the race, further inflaming an already chaotic primary. Since jumping in, he has blasted Biggs and Taylor Robson for running on “resentment and grievances,” and mocked Biggs, saying that “some of us actually do the work, and some people want to be Twitter stars.”

Schweikert’s memo is the latest step in a months-long pressure campaign against Taylor Robson. After she was forced to share Donald Trump’s endorsement with Andy Biggs — a move one Republican called a “death knell” — a Republican consultant said it “does call into question whether she should stay in the race.” Earlier this year, a Republican state senator said “the KTR boat is sinking,” and a Republican activist publicly urged her to “throw in the towel.” That hostility has also played out publicly, with Arizona GOP activists booing at the mere mention of Taylor Robson’s name during a meeting earlier this year.

Copper State Victory spokesperson Nicholas Simões Machado said:

“The growing calls for Karrin Taylor Robson to drop out mark a significant escalation in Arizona Republicans’ infighting — and it’s only going to get worse. Taylor Robson is entering the election year at her lowest point, and it’s clear the GOP is headed for a nasty, expensive, and increasingly bitter primary that deepens divisions and ensures whoever emerges does not win in November.”

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