Arizona gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs selects former state senator Sine Kerr as running mate
Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs has selected former Arizona state Sen. Sine Kerr as his running mate for lieutenant governor, making the July 31 announcement the first major ticket announcement under Arizona’s new lieutenant-governor system.
Kerr is a candidate for the office, not the sitting lieutenant governor. Biggs’ announcement is a campaign decision and does not decide the 2026 gubernatorial election or place Kerr in state office.
The selection gives Biggs a partner on a statewide ticket in an election that will be the first Arizona gubernatorial contest conducted with the newly created lieutenant-governor position. Arizona voters created that office in 2022.
A new role on the gubernatorial ticket
The lieutenant governor will be first in the line of succession to the governor. The officeholder also must serve either as the governor’s chief of staff or as the head of a state agency, giving the role both a succession function and an executive-management assignment.
Those requirements make the running-mate choice more than a ceremonial addition to a campaign. If a ticket wins, its lieutenant governor would have a defined place in the succession line while also taking on responsibilities in the governor’s office or within an agency.
For Biggs, the announcement identifies the person he would seek to place in that position if he and Kerr are elected. It does not establish a future administration, agency appointment or leadership change now.
Kerr’s legislative and agriculture background
Kerr served in the Arizona Senate from 2018 through 2025. She also served as Arizona executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency.
After Biggs announced his selection, Kerr stepped down from that federal agriculture post. The reported sequence is significant to the campaign because Biggs’ team has identified agriculture as the likely area of responsibility for Kerr if the ticket takes office.
Specifically, the campaign said Kerr would likely head the Arizona Department of Agriculture under a Biggs administration. That description remains prospective: It would require Biggs and Kerr to win the election and for the assignment to be carried out afterward.
The campaign’s use of the word “likely” does not amount to a completed appointment. Kerr has not been installed as head of the Arizona Department of Agriculture through the running-mate announcement.
What remains to be decided
The 2026 contest will determine who, if anyone on the Biggs-Kerr ticket, takes office. The campaign selection does not make Biggs the Republican nominee or determine the eventual statewide result.
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs had not announced a lieutenant-governor pick as of the report. The report also did not disclose a process or timeline for a Hobbs selection.
That leaves further ticket formation as the next known development in the race, including any lieutenant-governor choice Hobbs may announce. Arizona’s 2026 statewide election will be the first test of how candidates and voters use the new office, whose holder will combine a place in the governor’s succession line with a required executive role.
For now, the confirmed development is limited to Biggs’ July 31 choice of Kerr. Her possible leadership of the state agriculture department, like the office itself, remains contingent on the election and subsequent action by a winning administration.
Sources
- Andy Biggs taps Sine Kerr as his pick for lieutenant governor, Axios
- Arizona Secretary of State press releases, Arizona Secretary of State