The Embodiment of Extremism

No state in the Union embodies right-wing extremism quite like Arizona. Its collection of Trump-loving conspiracy theorists and Big Lie purveyors knows no rival anywhere else. Literally every candidate here has helped to promote The Big Lie, defended or participated in the insurrection, and has spread QAnon conspiracies. In fact, Ron Watkins, has been the subject of a QAnon special, postulating that he is actually the embodiment of Q himself. All of this extremism has come about because of the state's leftward shift during the last cycle. Can we push it left again? Perhaps.

Wendy Rogers

State Senator, Arizona

Wendy Rogers is one of the most divisive, racist, and anti-Semitic public servants in memory. She is running for reelection to the Arizona senate. In her pre-recorded video sent to the America First Political Action Conference on February 25, she praised its leader, Nick Fuentes, a misogynist and white supremacist. She trashed the media and called for public hanging of her political opponents.

She also said that the country is "forcibly vaccinating people with a bioweapon...it's criminal!" She is a frequent social media poster, including Twitter, where she posted that Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a "globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons" and claimed that "half the combat footage of Kiev out there is from a video game."

If that isn't enough, Rogers said that 6 million Jews were not exterminated during the Holocaust, but that it was more like 200,000 to 300,000. She also claims membership in the Oath Keepers, an extremist group whose leader, Stewart Rhodes, was indicted for sedition for his role in the insurrection. Rogers is also a QAnon supporter.

More recently, Rogers displayed her obscene nature by defending Alex Jones after his defamation trial, posting on social media, “It’s wrong what they did to Alex Jones. He should be able to criticize the official story any time he wants,"

We are talking about a man who made money from ignorant supporters by flat-out lying that Sandy Hook was a hoax. We're talking about a school shooting where 26 people were slaughtered, and 20 of them were young children. The evidence of a mass shooting isn't opinion. It is fact. And Alex Jones lied. Period.

Should we expect anything less from a racist, white supremacist holocaust denier and spreader of The Big Lie? No. However, we should expect rational people to come out and vote her out of office.

Kari Lake

Governor, Arizona

Extremists abound in the GOP, and Kari Lake is another in a long line. She has won Trump's endorsement, cementing her frontrunner status, and vows to recreate his policies in Arizona. She is running on 'election integrity' meaning that the is all in on Trump's Big Lie and has called for the jailing of Democrat Katie Hobbs for the crime of certifying the 2020 election results. Hobbs, by the way, is the Democrat running against Lake for governor.

She claims to be the bringer of truth, telling young women at a Turning Point USA event, “The truth is that basically there’s no risk to kids and people your age from COVID." She also told them that hydroxychloroquine and less expensive treatments cure COVID.

At a campaign appearance in August of last year, she posed with Greyson Arnold, a Nazi sympathizer who has a history of making racist, anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi statements. She also posed with Ron Watkins, a MAGA conspiracy theorist who has not only amplified and spread QAnon theories across social media platforms but is actually suspected of being Q himself.

Fast forward to this year's Turning Point cult meeting where Lake extolled the virtue of Ron DeSantis' "big dick energy." Her words. Not mine. And she was speaking to high school and college kids, so let's stop the bullshit about the left doing the indoctrinating and sexualizing of impressionable children. Perhaps you should look up some of the speeches for good measure.

Lake has also endorsed an anti-Semitic GOP candidate running in Oklahoma. Jarrin Jackson believes in the so-called Kalergi plan, the notion that global elites -- especially Jewish people -- are trying to replace white people by immigration and interracial breeding.

These are people running for office, folks, and people on the extreme right of the spectrum will be voting for them. You'd better be out there voting too.

Ron Watkins

District 2 Congress, Arizona

Perhaps nothing quite shows how far down the rabbit hole Arizona has gone than the candidacy of Ron Watkins, conspiracy theorist and, potentially, the man posing as Q of QAnon fame (although he insists that Steve Bannon is actually Q). Either way, Watkins has admitted in an article for the Sun that he spent considerable time spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. He also calls Trump the kingmaker of the Republican Party and claims that the MAGA wing of the GOP is the dominant wing. (Be afraid. Be very afraid.)

He recently stepped down from his job as administrator of 8chan, a message board where QAnon has flourished. His father, Jim Watkins, is the owner of 8chan and he is also a Trump acolyte. In spite of that, he continues to promote The Big Lie. In January, he hijacked a school board meeting in Scottsdale to spread rumors and announce his candidacy, against the rules of course. But it appears that school board meetings, as we have said, are now targets for the extreme right and the once sparsely attended events have become a rally point for their nonsense.

His platform is, as you may have guessed, election integrity. He had the cohones to call himself 'The Digital Rosa Parks' comparing his being booted from social media to the activism of a genuine civil rights leader.

It should be noted that Ron Watkins lost his most recent bid for Congress. He came in no. 7 out of seven candidates in the GOP primary. But Watkins, rest assured, will continue to be an influencer for the extreme right wing and the GOP.

Mark Finchem

Secretary of State, Arizona

Mark Finchem is currently serving in the Arizona House of Representatives but has just won the GOP primary as candidate for the key position of Secretary of State. It is, of course, under the guise of protecting 'election integrity', since he is one of the biggest purveyors of The Big Lie and has gained Trump's gushing endorsement. Up until that time, Finchem labored in obscurity.

However, prior to his election to the House, he was already a member of the Oath Keepers, a militia that played a major role in the J6 insurrection and whose leader, Stewart Rhodes, has been indicted for sedition for his actions on that day. Finchem has deep ties to the far right and, if you live in Arizona, it is critical that you read this article.

He is the Arizona coordinator for the Coalition of Western States, which supported the Bundy armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 and claimed that there was no right-wing involvement in the Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally in 2017, claiming instead that it was a left-wing PSYOP. Finchem also kept a 'Treason Watch List' (none of the actual treasonous members of the GOP was on the list, of course) and posted about stockpiling arms on Pinterest.

Recognizing Arizona as a key battleground state, he held a daylong hearing in November of 2020 with Rudy Giuliani, who spread many conspiracy theories about how the Arizona election was stolen and who presented several speakers, none of whom provided any actual evidence of what they were saying. He continues undaunted in his quest, but he must not be elected to such a position of power.

Kelli Ward

State Chair, Arizona Republican Party 

Kelli Ward is the current chair of the Arizona Republican Party and is a staunch supporter of Donald Trump and his Big Lie. She has served two stints in this position. She previously served as a state senator 2012-2015 but lost two races for the U.S. Senate (2016 and 2018).

Although she's not challenging Mark Kelly for his senate seat this cycle, she's going after John McCain again who, by the way, has been dead for some time now. This is not the first time she's gone after McCain; she has publicly battled Megan McCain in the past. The problem stems from the fact that McCain's widow endorsed Joe Biden over Donald Trump, proving that some Republicans are not wingnuts. The only problem is that they are few and far between in the party where fringe is the new norm.

Ward has done her best to overturn the election for her mentor, going 0 for 11 in court cases trying to find any judge who will give her mentor what he wants. She is a loyal foot soldier. When the J6 committee came knocking for the cell phone records of Ward and her husband, they filed a lawsuit to block the subpoena. What is it that they are hiding? Well, a conspiracy, for one thing.

Ward and her husband were among 11 Republicans who met at state party headquarters on December 14, 2020, to sign a document falsely stating that they had the power to cast Arizona's electoral votes for Donald Trump and Mike Pence. In June, both Ward and her husband were subpoenaed in a federal investigation into Arizona's fake slate of 2020 electors. 

Anthony Kern

District 20 State Senator, Arizona

Anthony Kern, formerly a member of the Arizona House of Representatives (2015-2021), is running in 2022 to represent District 27 in the state Senate. He has Trump's endorsement. Like the Jackaloon he pays fealty to, Kern isn't the most honest person on the planet. In 2014, prior to joining the Arizona House, he was fired from the El Mirage Police Department after lying to his supervisor.  Kern was subsequently placed on the Maricopa County list of law enforcement officials with a history of dishonesty or misconduct. As a state legislator, Kern requested of a fellow legislator that he sponsor a bill giving officers the ability to appeal being added to the list, known as the Brady List. Nothing like taking care of number one.

One look at Kern's website tells it all. He's running on election integrity, securing our borders, and supporting first responders. The great hue and cry of the right wing. Kern has been a supporter of #StopTheSteal and used the hashtag 17 times on Twitter from November 2020 through January 6, 2021. A review of video footage of the insurrection shows him present at the Capitol, even though he insists he didn't breach the building. His presence at the insurrection didn't stop him from participating in the recount during the Arizona 2020 audit until he was photographed by a reporter counting ballots and it was posted on Twitter. He was then removed from the process because of the "optics." The fact is that anyone supporting #StopTheSteal and present at the events of January 6 should never have been allowed to participate, particularly since his own name was on those ballots.