Arizona lawmaker illegally endorses city council candidate
(The Center Square) – The Senate Democratic Caucus says Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers drafted a letter with an Arizona Senate letterhead, endorsing a Cottonwood City Council member in the local election in violation of Arizona law.
The law states that “any public agency, department, board, commission, committee, council or authority shall not spend or use public resources to influence an election, including the use or expenditure of monies, accounts, credit, materials, equipment, buildings, facilities, vehicles, postage, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, web pages and personnel and any other thing of value of the public entity.”
It is unclear who the letter was written to, but it was posted on Rogers’ social media accounts. It was endorsing Cottonwood City Councilwoman Lisa DuVernay who is being recalled following her displaying “alleged pornographic material” during a city council meeting to disparage drag shows in Cottonwood.
“I wholeheartedly endorse Lisa DuVernay for reelection to the Cottonwood City Council,” reads the letter. “Councilmember DuVernay’s tireless dedication has held the community accountable. Despite being new to the area, her passion and commitment speak volumes about her character. I am confident she will be a true advocate for her constituents.”
Additionally, one of the reasons Rogers states that DuVernay should be reelected is because of her work trying to keep minors from attending “family-friendly drag shows.”
“Councilmember DuVernay stands for the people,” reads the letter. “She is an unflinching, courageous and stalwart defender of freedom. This is why the statists oppose her. We champion her! Reelect Councilmember Lisa DuVernay! Cottonwood needs her. We in rural Arizona need her.”
The letter was signed “In service, Wendy Rogers.”
The Senate Democratic Caucus sent the letter to Attorney General Kris Mayes, asking for an investigation. According to Richie Taylor, communications director for the Attorney General’s Office, the Mayes has received the request for an investigation and is looking into it.
“We are, once again, disappointed by her behavior and have taken action to have this matter investigated by the Attorney General,” reads a statement from the Senate Democratic Caucus. “Arizonans deserve to have confidence in their elected officials. Senator Rogers’ action may have been done carelessly or with blatant disregard for the law. Either way, it is an abuse of her position. No elected official is above the law.”
Following this statement, Rogers removed the letter from her social media accounts and said that she was not aware that it was against the law and removed the letter after she was informed that it was.
This incident comes just weeks after Democratic Senators Mitzi Epstein and Priya Sundareshan released a statement condemning Rogers for posting a Weimar Republic-era and subsequent Nazi rallying cry (“Deutschland, Deutschland über alles”) following the German conservative party winning a local election in Germany.
Those words were removed from the German national anthem after WWII.
“Senator Wendy Rogers has once again disgraced the Arizona Legislature by repeating Nazi slogans,” reads the story. “She has shown time and again that she feels no remorse for aligning herself with this level of hatred that led to the murder of millions, and we no longer trust that asking her to act appropriately will change her behavior.”
Rogers is running for reelection to the Arizona Senate this November.