Arizona is a hotbed for 2020 election denialism.
More Republican members of the state’s House and Senate have taken steps to discredit or overturn the 2020 election results than in any other state then-candidate Joe Biden narrowly won, according to a review of Republican state lawmakers in nine swing states by the New York Times.
The review found 81% of Republican lawmakers in Arizona took steps against 2020’s election results, a higher share of Republicans than Pennsylvania (78%), Wisconsin (73%), and Michigan (48%)
Challenges in Arizona
Republican state lawmakers took a number of actions to challenge the election results, most notably backing an audit of Maricopa County by Cyber Ninjas. The Florida-based company had no experience auditing elections, and its audit went on to cost more than $4 million as of Sept. 2021 and reconfirm that Biden won the state. More than two dozen Arizona Republican state lawmakers signed a letter to Pence on Jan. 5, 2021, asking him delay certification. The letter was also signed by state lawmakers from Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia
Several Arizonans have been subpoenaed by the bipartisan U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward and Republican state Rep. Mark Finchem were subpoenaed in February over questions related to coordinated efforts to overturn election results in Arizona.
Ward reportedly texted a state election official to “stop the counting” after Fox News and the Associated Press called Arizona for Biden, and Finchem is a Trump-endorsed candidate for Arizona Secretary of State, the state’s top election official. He introduced a resolution in the Arizona House to “decertify” election results.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., was subpoenaed by the select committee earlier this month. The select committee said in a letter it wished to question Biggs about planning meetings leading up to Jan. 6; coming up with the idea to bring protesters to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 with other House members; and House Republicans seeking pardons from then-President Trump in connection with his efforts to overturn the election.
In a statement, Biggs called the subpoena “political theater.”
Trump has endorsed a number of candidates in Arizona who support his false claim the election was stolen, including Finchem, Reps. Debbie Lesko and Paul Gosar, and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Overall, at least 357 current Republican state legislators in battleground states have pushed back against the election results, according to the Times’ review.
The action lawmakers could take to discredit or overturn the 2020 election in the Times’ review included supporting lawsuits to challenge the results, signing letters to Congress or then-Vice President Mike Pence, supporting an alternative slate of electors, or voting for partisan audits of election results.