Anthony Kern

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Kern lost his bid for reelection in 2020; he was the only Arizona Legislature Republican to lose a seat that year. [16] He left office on January 10, 2021.

After the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump both nationally and in Arizona, Kern denied the election results and sought to overturn the election to keep Trump in power. [17] [18]

In November and December 2020, Kern was one of several Arizona Republican legislators whom conservative activist Ginni Thomas (the wife of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas) pressed to overturn the election results and keep Trump in power. [19] In December 2020, Kern joined Republican U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert in a lawsuit filed in federal district court against Vice President Mike Pence. The suit, based on Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud, sought to overturn parts of the federal Electoral Count Act and prevent electoral votes for President-elect Biden from being counted in Congress. The suit was rejected by the courts. [20]

In December 2020, Kern was among the fake slate of pro-Trump electors, a group of eleven Arizona Republicans who (claiming to be "alternate electors") unsuccessfully tried, in December 2022, to cast Arizona's electoral votes for Trump. [17] The group signed a fraudulent certificate of ascertainment asserting Trump had won the 2020 presidential election. Republicans in six other states also signed false certificates. The aim of the scheme was to persuade Pence (who, as vice president, presides over the counting of the electoral votes) to recognize the bogus certificates (which would exceed his constitutional authority), giving Trump another term in office; Pence declined to do so. [17]

On January 6, 2021, Kern attended the pro-Trump "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington, D.C., and was present at the subsequent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Kern posted a video to his Twitter account which showed his attendance of the event, and in which he stated: "I will put politics aside if I never win another election. Trump, every time I heard him on TV, it was like he was my friend. Why? Because here's the President of the United States who was sticking up for little old me." [21] Kern later depicted the violent attack as a peaceful demonstration, claiming that only "a small few" committed crimes. [22]

In February 2021, Democratic legislator Charlene Fernandez, along with 43 other Democrats, signed a letter criticizing Kern and other Arizona Republicans (Mark Finchem and Paul Gosar) for their connections to the January 6 insurrection. Kern, Finchem, and Gosar sued Fernandez, claiming defamation. [23] The court dismissed Kern's suit. [24] [25] Ruling that the suit was "groundless," "not made in good faith," and was filed "primarily for purposes of harassment," the court also ordered the plaintiffs to pay $75,000 in attorneys' fees to Fernandez. [23] [25] After being sanctioned by the court, Kern introduced legislation to restrict attorney discipline that the State Bar of Arizona or Arizona Supreme Court could impose. [26]

In April 2021 Kern was among the people helping to count and inspect ballots as part of an "audit" of the Maricopa County presidential votes ordered by the Republican-led state Senate, though the contract for the audit said that the ballot counters would be nonpartisan. [27]

In April 2024, Kern was among the eleven "Fake Electors" indicted by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for signing a certificate, "...claiming to be Arizona's 11 electors to the Electoral College, though Biden won the state by 10,457 votes and state officials certified his electors." [28] [29] Overall, eighteen people were indicted. [30] On May 21, 2024, Kern and 10 others pled not guilty after being arraigned. [31]

Return to legislature in 2023

In 2022, Kern ran again for legislature, seeking a state Senate seat. Trump endorsed his candidacy, along with the candidacy of fellow Arizona election denier Wendy Rogers. [16]

During Governor Katie Hobbs' State of the State address in January 2023, Kern and fellow Republican state Senator Justine Wadsack stood and turned their backs to the governor; four Republican representatives walked out mid-speech. [32] After the speech, Hobbs said that it was "unfortunate that some members chose an immature stunt instead, but we have really tough issues in front of us and we need to work together to stop them." [32]

In 2023, Kern and other members of the Arizona Freedom Caucus (a faction of Republicans within the legislature), announced their opposition to ranked-choice voting in Arizona; Kern called RCV "rigged-choice voting." [33]

Kern in April 2024 brought and guided a religious group in conducting a prayer circle over the state seal on the Arizona Senate floor, with Kern declaring: "right now, we ask thee to release the presence of the lord in the senate chamber", with the religious group speaking in tongues; Kern later fired back at criticism over his action, characterizing critics as "god-haters", and declaring that "prayer over our state at the State Senate is way more powerful" than the critics. [34] [35]

Later in April 2024, when Democratic Arizona Senator Anna Hernandez tried to introduce a bill to repeal Arizona's 1864 abortion ban law, Kern repeatedly led attempts to block Hernandez's bill. [36]

In 2024, instead of running for reelection, Kern decided to run for the seat being vacated by U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Lesko in Arizona's 8th congressional district, however Kern lost the Republican primary to Abraham Hamadeh, placing fifth among a crowded field. [37]

References

  1. 1 2 "Anthony Kern". Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona State Legislature . Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Flaherty, Joseph (March 5, 2019). "Fired From Police Job for Lying, Arizona Lawmaker Tried to Help Cops Who Lie". Phoenix New Times . Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gardiner, Dustin (March 8, 2019). "Arizona lawmaker who was fired by police department for lying will keep leadership posts". The Arizona Republic .
  4. Grado, Gary (March 12, 2015). "Not really a cop: Glendale lawmaker incorrectly claims to be a police officer". Arizona Capitol Times .
  5. Roberts, Laurie (March 8, 2019). "Rep. Anthony Kern secretly tried to change the law to get his name off a list of liars". The Arizona Republic . Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  6. "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2014 General Election - November 4, 2014" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona Secretary of State. December 1, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  7. "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2016 Primary Election Aug. 30, 2016" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. September 12, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  8. "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2016 General Election November 8, 2016" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  9. Fischer, Howard (May 31, 2016). "Bill would ban college free speech zones". Arizona Capitol Times .
  10. 1 2 Fischer, Howard (January 24, 2020). "GOP lawmaker wants to mandate speaker viewpoints on campus". Arizona Capitol Times .
  11. Santos, Nico (February 4, 2017). "Car passengers would have to carry ID under new bill". KPNX . Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  12. Shumway, Julia; Campbell, Katie (June 23, 2019). "Committee chairs seek balance between gatekeeper and 'God'". Arizona Capitol Times .
  13. 1 2 3 4 Duda, Jeremy (April 16, 2019). "AG opinion from 1956 buttresses ethics complaint against Rep. Kern". Arizona Mirror .
  14. 1 2 Gardiner, Dustin (April 11, 2019). "Ethics complaint alleges Arizona Rep. Anthony Kern violated state Constitution". The Arizona Republic .
  15. 1 2 Duda, Jeremy (May 1, 2019). "Ethics Committee dismisses complaint against Kern". Arizona Mirror .
  16. 1 2 "Trump endorses 2 Arizona audit supporters for state Senate". Associated Press . November 29, 2021.
  17. 1 2 3 Ruelas, Richard (February 2, 2022). "Head of Arizona Republican Party fights Jan. 6 committee subpoena for cellphone records". The Arizona Republic .
  18. MacDonald-Evoy, Jerod (November 22, 2022). "These election deniers and conspiracy theorists won their elections". Arizona Mirror . Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  19. Brown, Emma (June 10, 2022). "Ginni Thomas pressed 29 Ariz. lawmakers to help overturn Trump's defeat, emails show". The Washington Post .
  20. Berman, Dan (January 3, 2021). "Appeals court dismisses Gohmert case asking Pence to interfere in Electoral College vote count". CNN .
  21. Scanlon, Tom (January 16, 2021). "Kern tweets about going to the Capitol". The Glendale Star .
  22. Small, Jim (January 7, 2021). "Some Arizona Republicans defended, excused the violent pro-Trump mob". Arizona Mirror .
  23. 1 2 Small, Jim (August 30, 2022). "Finchem, Gosar and Kern must pay ex-Dem lawmaker's $75,000 legal fees for 'groundless' lawsuit". Arizona Mirror .
  24. Fischer, Howard (April 29, 2022). "Judge tosses defamation lawsuit filed by state Rep. Finchem, others". Arizona Daily Star . Capitol Media Services.
  25. 1 2 Cooper, Jonathan J. (August 30, 2022). "Arizona judge slaps down Finchem, Gosar over defamation suit". Associated Press .
  26. MacDonald-Evoy, Jerod (February 14, 2023). "Sanctions for bogus election lawsuits spurs GOP proposal to protect attorneys from punishment". Arizona Mirror .
  27. Randazzo, Ryan; Oxford, Andrew (April 30, 2021). "Former Rep. Anthony Kern, a Stop the Steal backer, now counting your ballots". The Arizona Republic . Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  28. Schutsky, Wayne (April 26, 2024). "Meadows, Giuliani, 11 'fake electors' from 2020 are among those indicted in Arizona". NPR . Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  29. "Trump allies Meadows, Giuliani among 18 indicted in Arizona election interference case". CBC News . April 24, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  30. "Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and Arizona 'fake electors' charged with state crimes". NBC News. April 25, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  31. Marquez, Alexandra; Tabet, Alex (May 21, 2024). "Trump allies plead not guilty in Arizona 'fake electors' case". NBC News. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  32. 1 2 Sievers, Caitlin (January 9, 2023). "As Hobbs called for collaboration, some Republicans literally turned their backs". Arizona Mirror .
  33. Hansen, Piper (March 18, 2023). "Arizona Republican legislators announce formal opposition to ranked choice voting". Cronkite News . Arizona Public Media.
  34. Gauchat, Brenna (April 9, 2024). "Arizona lawmaker leads prayer circle on state seal at Capitol building, sparking backlash". Arizona Republic. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  35. Dicker, Ron (April 10, 2024). "Arizona State Senator Leads Prayer In Tongues On Floor Before Abortion Ruling". Huffington Post . Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  36. "Senate will vote on abortion repeal". Arizona Capitol Times . April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  37. Sievers, Caitlin (July 31, 2024). "Hamadeh beats Masters, Toma in Republican primary for Arizona's 8th Congressional District". Arizona Mirror . Retrieved August 17, 2024.
Anthony Kern
Anthony Kern by Gage Skidmore 4.jpg
Kern at the 2024 Hazlitt Summit hosted by Young Americans for Liberty Foundation
Member of the Arizona Senate
from the 27th district
In office
January 9, 2023 January 13, 2025