Wendy Rogers (politician)

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Wendy Rogers
Wendy Rogers (51335440984).jpg
Rogers in 2021
Member of the Arizona Senate
from the 6th district
Assumed office
January 11, 2021
Preceded bySylvia Allen
Personal details
Born (1954-07-24) July 24, 1954 (age 67)
Fort Knox, Kentucky, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Hal Kunnen
​
(m. 1978)​
Children2
EducationMichigan State University (BSW)
University of Alabama (MSW)
California State University, San Bernardino (MS)
WebsiteCampaign website
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Air Force
RankLieutenant Colonel

Wendy Rogers (born July 24, 1954) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Arizona Senate, representing Arizona Legislative District 6.[1] Elected in November 2020, she assumed office on January 11, 2021.[1] She was a member of the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1996.

An outspoken supporter of Donald Trump, Rogers led a successful primary challenge against incumbent Republican Senator Sylvia Allen, who was long considered one of the most conservative Arizona legislators, and went on to win the 2020 general election for State Senate against Democrat Felicia French.[2][3] She had previously made five unsuccessful campaigns for the United States Congress and Arizona Legislature.[4]

Rogers is a member of Oath Keepers, an anti-government militia organization whose members took part in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.[5] Since being elected, her rhetoric has become increasingly extreme, including indicating agreement with the white supremacist Great Replacement conspiracy theory, and she has appeared on a webcast that promotes hate speech.[6][7][8] In October 2021, Rogers spoke at a QAnon-linked political conference in Las Vegas.[9][10][11]

Early life and education[]

Rogers was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky on July 24, 1954.[12] She holds a Bachelor of Social Work from Michigan State University, a Master of Social Work from the University of Alabama, and a Master of Science in national security studies from California State University, San Bernardino.[12]

Career[]

She served in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1996, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel.[12] Rogers owns a home inspection business.[13]

Early political campaigns[]

In 2010, Rogers ran for the Arizona Senate in the 17th legislative district, losing to Democrat David Schapira.[14]

In 2012, Rogers ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona's 9th congressional district, losing the Republican primary to Vernon Parker.[15]

In 2014, Rogers ran again in the 9th district, losing to the Democratic incumbent congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema.[16] During her campaign, Rogers used footage of the beheading video of American journalist James Foley by ISIL terrorists in a campaign ad seeking to attack Sinema as weak on national security. Democrats condemned the ad as a "reprehensible" smear tactic, while Rogers's campaign defended it.[17]

In 2016, Rogers unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for a U.S. House seat from Arizona's 1st congressional district; she was one of a five-person field, along with Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, former state Senator and Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, rancher and businessman Gary Kiehne, and Shawn Redd.[13] During her primary campaign, Rogers was the sole candidate to support Donald Trump's promotion of a Mexico–United States barrier.[13] She also supported increasing the number of U.S. military personnel deployed to foreign conflicts.[13] Rogers lost, coming in third place behind Babeu, who won the nomination, and Kiehne, the runner-up.[18]

In 2018, Rogers again made an unsuccessful run for Congress, losing to the Democratic incumbent Tom O'Halleran.[19]

Defamation case[]

While running for Congress in 2018, Rogers ran attack ads claiming that one of her opponents in the Republican primary election, former state Senator Steve Smith, was a "slimy character whose modeling agency specializes in underage girls and advertises on websites linked to sex trafficking."[20][21] The modeling agency and its owner sued Rogers for defamation in October 2018; the protracted litigation eventually reached the Arizona Supreme Court, which decided to consider whether the First Amendment shields a political candidate from liability for defaming a third party while attacking an opposing candidate.[20][22] Oral arguments in the state Supreme Court were held in September 2021.[22]

State Senate election and tenure[]

In 2020, Rogers ran for Arizona's 6th legislative district, defeating incumbent Sylvia Allen in a bitterly contested Republican primary, and defeating Democratic nominee Felicia French in the general election.[23] The district encompasses Rim Country and the White Mountains, and extends from Flagstaff to the Arizona–New Mexico border.[24] Rogers raised $1 million in campaign contributions, a record for the district, and dark money organizations on both sides spent large sums to support and oppose the two candidates.[23] During the campaign, Rogers made few public appearances and did not participate in debates; she also avoided taking positions on local political issues, including forest management, funding for education, or response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona.[23]

In December 2020, as a State Senator-elect, Rogers issued a tweet praising Confederate general Robert E. Lee as a "great patriot and a great leader."[25] In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona, Rogers sponsored legislation to declare gun shops "essential businesses" permitted to remain open during emergencies.[26] In February 2021, Rogers sponsored legislation seeking to rename a portion of Arizona State Route 260 as the "Donald J. Trump Highway", which State Senator Martin Quezada, a Democrat from Phoenix, described the proposal as "a desperate attempt to really pander to a base of voters even though the state of Arizona rejected Donald Trump."[27]

Rogers is Vice Chairman of the Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of the Senate's Health and Human Services Committee and Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee.[1] In the legislature, Rogers has introduced anti-abortion measures.[28]

Affiliation with militia group[]

Rogers first claimed to be a "charter member" of the Oath Keepers, a militia movement group, in 2018. During her 2020 run for the state Senate, she promoted her membership in the group, which promotes fringe conspiracy theories and violent, extremist rhetoric, including talk of a new civil war.[24] In one fundraising appeal in her 2020 campaign, Rogers compared herself to Kyle Rittenhouse.[24][29] After members of Oath Keepers had been indicted for their alleged participation in the January 6 Capitol attack, Rogers stated on Twitter, "I am a member of the Oathkeepers and I really like their dedication to our Constitution and to our country," including a photo of her speaking to the Cottonwood, Arizona chapter of the organization.[5]

Support for overturning the 2020 presidential election[]

Further information: Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election

Following the 2020 United States presidential election, in which President Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden, Rogers promoted the false claim that Trump had won the election nationally and in Arizona.[30] As Arizona's slate of electors met in Phoenix to formally cast the state's electoral votes for Biden, Rogers tweeted "Buy more ammo."[31][32] Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs condemned Rogers' statement.[32]

After a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 in a failed attempt to halt the counting of the electoral votes and keep Trump in power, Rogers falsely claimed the attack had been conducted by antifa groups.[30][33] Rogers was one of a number of Republican state legislators in Arizona who either defended and excused the attempted insurrection, or spread disinformation about responsibility for the attack.[33]

In June 2021, Rogers appeared on the online TV network TruNews to promote Arizona Republicans' audit of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County, Arizona. (The results had previously been repeatedly audited, with no irregularities found.) TruNews and its founder, Rick Wiles, are known for promoting antisemitism, including claims that "seditious Jews" plotted Trump's impeachment and that "the American people are being oppressed by Jewish tyrants." Rogers made the appearance on a show hosted by white nationalist commentator Lauren Witzke.[34]

Rogers strongly supported the 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit initiated by Arizona Senate Republicans to challenge Joe Biden's victory in the county and the state. After the audit found no proof of election fraud, and that Biden's margin of victory was actually larger, Rogers began a campaign to audit elections in all fifty states and called for each state to "decertify its electors where it has been shown the elections were certified prematurely and inaccurately."[35] She is one of two Arizona legislators endorsed for reelection by former President Donald Trump.[36][37]

Immigration[]

Rogers has posted warnings on social media that echo the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory. In July 2021, she asserted that "Americans who love this country are being replaced by people who do not love this country" and that "Communists & our enemies are using mass immigration, education, big tech, big corporations & other strategies to accomplish this."[38]

Former aide's complaint[]

In January 2021, a former legislative aide to Rogers filed a complaint in the state Senate Ethics Committee against Rogers. The ex-staffer accused Rogers of abusive workplace conduct, including verbally abusing him and destroying his possessions in a tirade, repeatedly demanding that he work while on sick leave with COVID-19; demanding that he illegally perform campaign work on government time, and mocking his weight and appearance. In March 2021, the Ethics Committee dismissed the complaint against Rogers on a 3–2 party-line vote; the Republican majority said there was no "clear and convincing evidence" of an ethics violation, while the Democratic minority disagreed.[39] The former staffer subsequently filed a $500,000 notice of claim (a precursor to a lawsuit) against the state, alleging wrongful termination and harassment by Rogers.[40]

Personal life[]

Rogers married Hal Kunnen in 1978 and they have two children. Kunnen is a retired Air Force officer.[41]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Senate Member". www.azleg.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  2. ^ Peter Aleshire (August 7, 2020). "Rogers unseats Allen in bitter, expensive state senate primary brawl". White Mountain Independent.
  3. ^ Colson, Thomas (August 3, 2021). "A pro-Trump Arizona state senator called for the mass imprisonment of Maricopa County officials after they condemned the election audit". Business Insider.
  4. ^ "Wendy Rogers embraced Trump's stolen election lie and watched her star rise". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  5. ^ a b "'Abnormal methods': U.S. attorney general says feds will review Arizona's partisan election audit". 12news.com. June 12, 2021.
  6. ^ Nick R. Martin (July 21, 2021). "Az lawmaker Wendy Rogers stokes racist 'replacement' theory". Tucson Sentinel.
  7. ^ Jerod MacDonald-Evoy (July 20, 2021). "GOP Sen. Wendy Rogers defends her promotion of racist 'great replacement' ideology". Arizona Mirror.
  8. ^ MacDonald-Evoy, Jerod (July 23, 2021). "State Sen. Wendy Rogers appears on antisemitic news show. Again". Arizona Mirror.
  9. ^ MacDonald-Evoy, Jerod (October 28, 2021). "GOP legislators spoke at a QAnon convention chock full of conspiracies and hate". Arizona Mirror.
  10. ^ Siders, David (October 20, 2021). "'Down the rabbit hole': Arizona GOP goes full fringe". Politico.
  11. ^ "The Patriot Voice – For God & Country". Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c "Wendy Rogers". Archives of Women's Political Communication. Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, Iowa State University. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  13. ^ a b c d Emery Cowan, 5 from GOP want District 1 seat in Congress, Arizona Daily Sun (August 17, 2016).
  14. ^ Schapira narrowly beats Rogers in LD17, Arizona Capitol Times (November 2, 2010).
  15. ^ State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2012 Primary Election - August 28, 2012, Arizona Secretary of State.
  16. ^ State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2012 General Election - November 4, 2014, Arizona Secretary of State.
  17. ^ Donna Cassata, Beheading video used in Rogers ad against Sinema, Associated Press (October 6, 2014).
  18. ^ Official Election Canvass of Results: 2016 Primary Election - August 30, 2016, Arizona Secretary of State.
  19. ^ State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2018 General Election - November 6, 2018, Arizona Secretary of State].
  20. ^ a b Arizona Supreme Court to hear lawmaker's defamation case, Associated Press (May 5, 2021).
  21. ^ Kevin Reagan, Modeling agency suing Wendy Rogers over campaign attack ads, PinalCentral.com (February 26, 2019).
  22. ^ a b Ray Stern, Defamation case against state Sen. Wendy Rogers could have big implications for public, Arizona Republic (September 28, 2021).
  23. ^ a b c Peter Aleshire, Republicans hang onto District 6 in costly slugfest, Payson Roundup (November 4, 2020).
  24. ^ a b c Peter Aleshire, Senate candidate claims membership in controversial militia, Payson Roundup (October 27, 2020).
  25. ^ David Baker, Arizona State Senator-elect Wendy Rogers praises Robert E Lee, 3TV/CBS 5 (December 21, 2010).
  26. ^ Arizona bill would designate gun stores as essential firms, Associated Press (March 3, 2021).
  27. ^ Dennis Welch, Arizona senator wants to name major state highway after Donald Trump, KTVK 3TV & KPHO CBS 5. (February 9, 2021).
  28. ^ Bob Christie, GOP-controlled Legislature advancing anti-abortion measures, Associated Press (February 18, 2021).
  29. ^ Peter Aleshire, Senate candidate Rogers compares herself to Wisconsin gunman, White Mountain Independent (September 11, 2020).
  30. ^ a b Waltz, Adam (January 7, 2021). "Seven Arizonan Republican legislators face calls to ban them from the House and Senate". ABC 15 Arizona. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  31. ^ Laurie Roberts, Here is one GOP senator's response to Biden's win in Arizona: 'Buy more ammo', The Arizona Republic (December 14, 2020).
  32. ^ a b Joe Dana, Arizona electors confirm 11 votes for President-elect Joe Biden, KPNX (December 11, 2020).
  33. ^ a b Jim Small, Some Arizona Republicans defended, excused the violent pro-Trump mob, Arizona Mirror (January 7, 2021).
  34. ^ Molly Boigon, Arizona state senator touts appearance on network that warned against 'Jewish tyrants', Forward (June 24, 2021).
  35. ^ Kelcie Mosely-Morris (October 19, 2021). "Group of Idaho legislators sign letter calling for 50-state audit, scrubbing voter rolls". Idaho Press.
  36. ^ "Trump endorses 2 Arizona audit supporters for state Senate". AP NEWS. 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  37. ^ "Endorsement of Wendy Rogers". www.donaldjtrump.com. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  38. ^ Aleshire, Peter (23 July 2021). "Sen. Rogers tweets "we are being replaced"". White Mountain Independent.
  39. ^ Dennis Welch, Ex-staff files ethics complaint against Arizona Sen. Wendy Rogers, 3TV/CBS 5 (January 25, 2021); Ethics panel to investigate senator accused of harassment, Associated Press (February 4, 2021); Bob Christie, Arizona ethics panel tosses complaint against GOP senator, Associated Press (March 2, 2021).
  40. ^ Piper Hansen, Former staffer to Arizona Sen. Wendy Rogers files $500K notice of claim against state, The Arizona Republic (March 3, 2021).
  41. ^ "Wendy Rogers". East Valley Tribune. Retrieved 2021-04-01.

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