With the 2024 election (largely) in the bag, Republicans already are turning their attention to reclaiming the statewide offices they lost in 2022.

The No. 1 priority: No Kari Lakes and Mark Finchems need apply.

“Avoiding a repeat of 2022 will be a priority this time around, and that means identifying and backing Republicans that can win both the primary and general (elections),” one Republican consultant told me. “We failed miserably at that two years ago.”

A smattering of prominent and not-so-prominent Republicans are being mentioned as possibilities for making a run at Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2026. Chief among them are businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson and state Treasurer Kimberly Yee.

Some are floating Sen. Jake Hoffman as a possibility. If true, that should make next year’s already bruising Senate confirmation process positively brutal, given that........

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