Karrin Taylor Robson turns away from Donald Trump. What that means for Arizona
Opinion: Karrin Taylor Robson ran as MAGA light in 2022. Now she is atoning for that mistake — and that has implications for future Arizona elections.
Phil Boas
Karrin Taylor Robson got our attention late last week when word surfaced that she and her husband, Ed, would be hosting a fundraising event for Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie.
Still bruised from her cage match with fellow Republican and Donald Trump warrior queen, Kari Lake, Robson announced her $3,300 per person soiree with Christie.
It would include old guard and business conservatives such as Michael Bidwill, Doug Ducey and Jon Kyl.
Raising money for Christie is not just choosing another horse in the 2024 Republican primary for president.
Christie is the anti-Trump. He’s the poison-tipped arrow aimed at Trump’s heart and everything MAGA.
Trump is “a lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog,” said Christy, in retort to Trump’s constant barbs about his waistline. “(He) is not a leader."
Taylor Robson once ran as MAGA light
For Taylor Robson to support Christie represents a striking reorientation from the person she ran as in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race.
That Karrin Taylor Robson was MAGA light. In a television ad she described herself as “a true Trump supporter.”
On national television she repeatedly dodged the question: “Do you accept the outcome of the 2020 election?” — a sure signal she had rented space in Trump’s make-believe world.
And she no doubt reluctantly put on the clown shoes and blessed the Arizona Republicans’ thoroughly discredited “audit” of the 2020 election.
“I think if you asked her about that today, she would say, ‘That was a very painful period, and I wish I wouldn’t have had to do it,’ ” said Chuck Coughlin, Phoenix political consultant and CEO and President of Highground Inc.
“It was the diktat of the cycle at the time, and that’s what she believed she had to do in order to be successful. She came close, I’ll give her that, against the Trump Mini-Me.”
Had she defeated Lake, she'd be governor
Had Taylor Robson defeated Kari Lake in the Republican primary, she might be governor today.
Coughlin has said he believes she could have won by double digits.
Everyone who knew anything about Robson expected she would make her pivot away from Trump and MAGA had she won the Republican primary. And without all the baggage of Kari Lake, she would have won the governorship.
But that’s would of. Could of.
Who is Karrin Taylor Robson?Let's unwrap the enigma
If Taylor Robson has future ambitions, she has a MAGA problem, and supporting Christie is an act of contrition — a major move toward cleansing herself of the Trump residue.
It’s not her first.
She signaled she was headed in a different direction last spring when she endorsed independent Kevin Robinson for Phoenix City Council over hard-right Republican Sam Stone. For that she was rebuked by the Arizona Republican Party and stripped of her voting rights as a precinct committeewoman.
She may be preparing for the fall of Trump
Taylor Robson appears to be positioning herself for a post-Trump universe, Coughlin said on Monday.
“Most establishment Republicans have conceded Trump is going to lose. And they’re like OK, what do we do after that, and how do we shape a narrative after that.”
Coughlin, himself, is convinced Republicans are going to lose their fourth straight election cycle thanks to Trump.
Get opinions in your inbox:Sign up for our free newsletter
“Trump’s done more damage to his ability to grow a coalition. And Trump turns out more people to vote against him than Biden does to vote against him. Trump is almost the antidote that helps Biden do much better.”
Republicans will not save themselves with a new candidate in the 2024 Republican primary, he said. “The fever is not broken. (Trump) still controls 35-45 percent of the Republican primary electorate. And that’s enough to win in a very crowded race.”
With her fundraiser for the anti-Trump candidate on Monday night, Taylor Robson is preparing for the day MAGA crashes.
“Karrin has deep political roots,” said Coughlin. “She’s trying to build her bench strength looking forward to ’26 and what’s left in the debris field.”
It may be that she has discovered the only way to atone for Trump is to participate in his eventual destruction.
Phil Boas is an editorial columnist for The Arizona Republic. Email him at phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.