(C) Arizona Mirror
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Democratic PAC targets GOP governor candidates over Trump health care cuts [1]
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Date: 2025-08
A Democratic PAC aimed at supporting statewide Democrats in 2026 launched its campaign against their GOP opponents Thursday, taking aim at their support of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that will kick millions of people off of health care to pay for tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy.
Copper State War Room, an arm of the Copper State Victory PAC, held its first press conference on Thursday and launched a broadside against the two leading contenders in the Republican primary for governor, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs and Karrin Taylor Robson. Both have been endorsed by Trump.
“Let me be crystal clear. By supporting these cuts, Karrin Taylor Robson and Andy Biggs are attacking seniors,” Dora Vasquez, the executive director of the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, said, adding that rural hospitals are also at risk from the cuts.
Congress set aside $50 billion for rural hospitals in anticipation of the impact the cuts would have, however, hospital leaders have voiced concern if it will be enough given that the cost of the cuts are estimated to reach $155 billion for rural hospitals in the next 10 years.
Vasquez also noted that former Gov. Jan Brewer, who co-chaired Robson’s previous campaign for governor, had voiced opposition to the proposed cuts to those programs. While governor, Brewer fought against Republicans to expand Medicaid enrollment, and ultimately succeeded.
Robson’s campaign refused to answer if Brewer is still part of the campaign or what Robson’s opinion is on Brewer’s stance on the cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and instead doubled down on support of the spending package in an emailed statement.
“Katie Hobbs’s opposition to the Big, Beautiful Bill is an insult to the voters and taxpayers of Arizona,” Robson said in the statement. “Her opposition to a historic tax cut for the working class and Arizona families, funding for border security and law enforcement, and efforts to root out fraud, waste, and abuse in our government is a reminder that she is unfit to be governor of our great state.”
Biggs did not respond to a request for comment.
Dr. Vishal Verma, who practices internal medicine in Scottsdale, expressed his concerns over how the budget bill will impact rural communities and the healthcare industry as a whole.
“This bill hits us at a time when the health care system is already strained and stressed by burnouts, workforce shortages and rising costs,” Verma said. Five rural hospitals and approximately 300,000 Arizonans are at risk due to the cuts with Arizona’s Healthcare Cost Containment System, also known as AHCCCS, estimated to lose about 19% of its $22 billion budget.
Verma said the physicians and hospitals, especially those in rural areas, that have larger percentages of patients on those programs will face “financial ruin” from the cuts.
“If rural hospitals go under, so do the local rural economies,” Verma said, adding that patients will be forced to “drive for hours” to get care.
Both Biggs and Robson have praised Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and championed the cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, as well as a number of other cuts and major policy aims of the Trump administration.
The PAC and its campaign efforts are the result of dysfunction at the Arizona Democratic Party, which has been in turmoil since party members elected Robert Branscomb as chairman in January. Top Democrats and party donors clashed with him almost immediately and vowed to work around the state party, so they launched Copper State Victory PAC in June. Last month, Democrats ousted Branscomb as chairman.
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[1] Url:
https://azmirror.com/briefs/democratic-pac-targets-gop-governor-candidates-over-trump-health-care-cuts/
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