Biggs touts water, farming priorities at Yuma GOP meeting

Republican governor candidate Andy Biggs used a Tuesday stop in Yuma to lean into the issue that matters most here: water. Speaking to about 50 people at the Yuma County Republican Party’s monthly meeting at the Yuma Community Food Bank, Biggs cast himself as a defender of rural Arizona’s farms and Colorado River interests.

The meeting took place on the county party’s 24th Street headquarters campus in Yuma, a city that sits at the center of one of Arizona’s most politically organized Republican counties. Yuma County had an estimated population of 224,449 as of July 1, 2025, and 66.1% of residents identified as Hispanic or Latino, underscoring the community’s scale and the cultural reach of any statewide campaign that wants to win here.

Biggs has made water a central theme in his run for governor. In March, he said he wanted to seek federal grant money to restart the Yuma Desalting Plant, a facility completed in 1992 that has been used only twice and remains dormant. Any effort to bring it back would run into long-running concerns about the Cienega de Santa Clara wetland, which formed after runoff was diverted during construction and is now protected.

For Yuma, the water debate is not abstract. A University of Arizona Cooperative Extension study found that agriculture and agribusiness generated a $4.4 billion contribution to the Arizona economy in 2022, with Yuma’s top crops including iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce and processed lettuce. The same analysis said Yuma accounted for 18% of crop sales in the Colorado River Basin while using only 8% of the irrigation water, a ratio local growers often cite when arguing for a fair share of Colorado River policy.

Biggs also said he has been talking with lawmakers about Colorado River negotiations and storage, and that he has been working across the aisle with Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly on the issue. The comments fit a campaign that has already brought him to Yuma multiple times this cycle, including a May 3 stop at Community Christian Church and earlier appearances with the Yuma County Republican Women and the Colorado River Tea Party.

His Yuma messaging was also bolstered by local GOP support. State Rep. Michele Peña, whose district includes parts of Yuma County, endorsed Biggs last week and pointed to water rights, taxes and costs. With President Donald Trump already backing him, Biggs is trying to turn Yuma’s most urgent issue into a statewide political advantage.