Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs is launching her re-election bid Wednesday, outlining a practical rather than confrontational approach to campaigning in a swing state where the politics are delicate and she will need Republican support.

Nationally, Democrats are looking to bounce back from sweeping losses in the 2024 election.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Hobbs shrugged off pessimism in the Democratic ranks and among voters.

She said she’s focused on putting Arizonans first and politics aside, a message she hopes will resonate with voters across the political spectrum.

She’ll need that, particularly in a swing state that endorsed President Donald Trump in 2024 but chose Joe Biden four years earlier.

In her first campaign video advertisement of the election cycle, she criticized Washington and the tariffs that she said make life more costly for Arizonans, while making no explicit mention of Trump.

As the likely Democratic nominee, Hobbs will face developer Karrin Taylor Robson, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs or U.S. Rep. David Schweikert in the November 2026 general election. Robson and Biggs are both endorsed by Trump.

Hobbs criticized Robson, Biggs and Schweikert for supporting Trump’s budget bill that she said raises the federal deficit, slashes meals for kids, jeopardizes health care and increases the cost of college.

As a border governor, Hobbs also criticized the Biden Administration on the issue of border security. She said she was willing to work with the Trump administration on security issues like stemming drug trafficking.

" I found a common ground to work with the Trump administration on delivering border security. When I stood up to the Biden administration because they ignored border security. And those are the kind of fights that I’m bringing to the state.," she told the AP.

The rate of apprehensions at the southern U.S. border with Mexico has fallen to it lowest rate in more than half a century. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday that arrests averaged about 280 per day in September.

Border arrests began falling sharply well before Trump took office from an all-time monthly high of 250,000 in December 2023.

Hobbs said Trump’s posture on immigration has had a “chilling effect” on the number of people crossing the border, though she did not explicitly credit the administration for the reduction.

She has rebuked Trump’s immigration crackdowns, noting his enforcement efforts should focus on “the worst criminals” and people making communities unsafe.

This past legislative session, she vetoed a GOP-favored bill that sought to require local and state officials to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

She has drawn criticism from members of her own party, who pushed her to further spending for border support.