President Donald Trump’s recent call to end widespread mail-in voting has forced Republican candidates in key Western battlegrounds to navigate competing political pressures: align with the former president’s demands or preserve voting methods that many GOP voters rely on.
In Arizona, two Trump-backed GOP gubernatorial hopefuls have taken notably different tacks. U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, one of the president’s endorsed choices, does not support eliminating mail voting, while developer Karrin Taylor Robson — who also displays Trump’s backing in campaign messaging — has declined to say if she would support a repeal. Both candidates have cast mail ballots themselves for nearly two decades, underscoring the tension between party loyalty and voter habits in a state that has long used mail ballots extensively.
The dilemma extends beyond Arizona. In Nevada, Governor Joe Lombardo — who has tried to cultivate an independent profile while remaining publicly aligned with Trump — has not publicly embraced the president’s call to end mail voting. Nevada is among the states that conduct most elections by mail, and in three of the last four statewide contests more voters cast mail ballots than voted in person.
Trump announced on social media that he wants to end universal mail voting except for those who are very ill and military personnel serving abroad. He has reiterated baseless claims that mail ballots invite fraud, even as election officials and independent reviews found no evidence of widespread problems in recent national contests. The president also linked a recent federal decision to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama, partly blaming Colorado’s universal mail voting system.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the president’s position as a call for secure and transparent voting. "President Trump is committed to ensuring that every vote cast is done in a secure and transparent fashion to restore trust and integrity back to American elections," she said in an email.
Republicans in swing states say the question is politically fraught. Barrett Marson, a GOP strategist in Arizona, pointed to the party’s ground program in 2024, saying mail ballots and early voting helped Republicans carry the state and expand their legislative majority. Trump won about 51% of the 2,882,741 votes cast early in person and by mail in Arizona, and according to state party officials a concerted ballot-chasing effort helped deliver victories.
Arizona pioneered broad vote-by-mail measures in the 1990s, and the system remains popular among voters. Statewide, roughly 85% of voters use mailed ballots, a habit that officials, campaigns and voters have come to rely on. Yet recent years have seen heightened scrutiny and conspiracies surrounding the vote-counting process, particularly in Maricopa County — the nation’s second-largest election jurisdiction. Counting mail ballots takes additional time because signatures must be inspected, envelopes scanned and ballots sorted before they are tallied, and delays have contributed to suspicion among some voters.
The 2020 and 2022 general elections in Arizona were decided by narrow margins, further intensifying debate over trust in the system. Trump lost Arizona to Joe Biden in 2020 by 10,457 votes and later made unsubstantiated claims the result was fraudulent. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes prevailed over a Republican opponent in 2022 by 280 votes after a recount. Those close margins have heightened political sensitivity to how ballots are cast and counted.
Biggs, a former chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus who backed Trump’s false claims about the 2020 results, has publicly encouraged in-person voting since Trump’s announcement but his campaign says he does not support revoking mail voting entirely. Sean Noble, a Biggs campaign consultant, said, "Encouraging in person voting is not the same as repealing mail voting. He does not support eliminating mail voting."
Taylor Robson, who lost the Arizona Republican primary in 2022 and has since shifted her campaign rightward, features Trump’s support prominently in advertising and on social media. In interviews she has signaled agreement with the president on broad aims to restore "trust and integrity" but has sidestepped direct answers on whether she would push to repeal mail voting; her campaign declined further comment.
In Nevada, the mail ballot system is even more central to everyday voting. A 2020 law allowing counties to accept mail ballots postmarked by Election Day even if they arrive up to four days later lengthened the window to count ballots and in some cases contributed to drawn-out results. While Nevada’s 2024 general election saw a dip in mailed ballots to 45% of the total — lower than in recent statewide contests — officials and campaigns say many voters value the convenience and predictability of the system.
Lombardo in past statements has criticized "universal mail-in ballots" and supported some limits on counting mail ballots after Election Day, but he did not address the president’s new call to end mail voting in a recent reelection campaign launch. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The debate illustrates how practical election administration and partisan strategy can collide. Some Republican operatives argue that mail voting and early-vote operations are integral to modern turnout strategies, and that a wholesale rollback could damage the party in competitive states. Others, buoyed by Trump’s influence, see a political opportunity in responding to voters who say they want stronger election integrity measures.
As the midterms approach, local officials and candidates will continue to weigh how to respond publicly to the former president’s directive while managing the operational realities of jurisdictions that have relied on mail ballots for decades. Associated Press journalists contributed to this report.