Russell Bowers

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Rusty Bowers
Russell Bowers by Gage Skidmore.jpg
54th Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives
Assumed office
January 14, 2019
Preceded byJ. D. Mesnard
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives
from the 25th district
Assumed office
January 5, 2015
Preceded byJustin Pierce
Member of the Arizona Senate
from the 21st district
In office
January 1997 – January 2003
Preceded byStan Barnes
Succeeded byJay Tibshraeny
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives
from the 21st district
In office
January 1993 – January 1997
Serving with Leslie Whiting Johnson, Marilyn Jarrett
Preceded byStan Barnes
Succeeded byDean Cooley
Personal details
Born (1952-10-20) October 20, 1952 (age 71)
Mesa, Arizona, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Children7
EducationMesa Community College
Arizona State University, Tempe
Brigham Young University (BFA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Russell "Rusty" Bowers[1] (born October 20, 1952) is an American politician and the current Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he has represented the 25th legislative district since 2015.[2][3] He was elected Speaker in 2019.

Bowers previously represented the 21st legislative district in the Arizona House from 1993 to 1997 and in the Arizona Senate from 1997 to 2001.[4] He is a classically trained artist specializing in watercolor, oil painting, and sculpting,[5] and also has been involved in the construction and education industries.[6]

In February 2022, Bowers filed paperwork to run for the Arizona Senate in the 10th district.[7][8][9] He lost to Dave Farnsworth in the Republican primary.[10]

Early life and education

Bowers, who is a fourth-generation Arizonan,[11] grew up on a sheep ranch in Chino Valley.[12] He attended Mesa Community College, Arizona State University, and Brigham Young University. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Mexico.[13]

Resistance to overturning the 2020 presidential election

Bowers refused to cooperate with the attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election by publicly stating that there was no evidence of election fraud that would mandate rejection of the results of the 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona.[11][14] On June 21, 2022, Bowers testified to the January 6 committee.[15] As part of his testimony, he stated that when he asked Rudy Giuliani for evidence that there was fraud, Giuliani responded "We have lots of theories, we just don't have the evidence".[16]

Bowers also killed a bill in the Arizona House of Representatives which would have allowed the state legislature to override the results of a presidential election in Arizona.[17]

In December 2020, colleague Senator Kelly Townsend wanted Bowers to call the legislature into session and appoint an alternate slate of electors. When he refused, Townsend tweeted Bowers' home address and urged her militia followers to protest at his home.[18]

For his efforts in resisting the attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, Bowers was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. He was one of five honorees to receive the award in 2022.[19] Nevertheless, on July 19, 2022, the Arizona Republican Party censured Bowers for his resistance.[20]

In 2022, Bowers ran for the State Senate, as he was being termed out from the State House. He lost the Republican primary for the State Senate by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, with the loss being attributed to his resistance to overturning the 2020 presidential election. In spite of the loss, Bowers said he had no regrets about his resistance and "would [have done] it again in a heartbeat".[21][11]

Personal life

Bowers is married to Donetta Russell, with whom he had seven children; one of these, Kacey Rae Bowers, died in 2021 at the age of 42.[22][11] Bowers is a painter and rancher. His property was deeply affected by a fire that ravaged his farm, and burnt his painting studio where much of his work, as well as a significant portion of his legislative papers, was stored.[11]

In January 2021, Bowers announced the death of one of his daughters, who had been fighting a liver illness for a "long period of time."[23] Her last weeks were troubled by Trump supporters, one armed, demonstrating noisely outside Bowers' home.[11]

Elections

  • 2014 – Bowers and Olson[who?] defeated Haydee Dawson, Michelle Udall and Jerry Walker in the Republican primary. Olson and Bowers defeated David Butler, Sheila Ogea, and Libertarian Michael Kielsky in the general election, with Bowers receiving 33,220 votes.[24]
  • 2016 – Bowers and Udall defeated Ross Groen in the Republican primary. Bowers and Udall defeated Kathleen Rahn, with Bowers receiving 51,160 votes.[25]
  • 2018 – Bowers and Udall defeated Marlene Hinton in the Republican primary. Bowers and Olson defeated Johnny Martin in the general election, with Bowers receiving 30,712 votes.[26]

Notes

  1. ^ Each district elects two representatives. The top two candidates are both elected together at the same time. See Arizona State Legislature#Districting.

References

  1. ^ "Russell Bowers's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  2. ^ "Russell Bowers". Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  3. ^ "Profile: Rep. Russell Bowers (R-AZ)".
  4. ^ "Russell W. Bowers (Republican Party)".
  5. ^ "About". Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  6. ^ "Russell Bowers".
  7. ^ "Speaker Bowers to Run for Arizona Senate Again, Termed Out of House". February 19, 2022.
  8. ^ "The Arizona Republic".
  9. ^ "House Speaker Bowers files for Senate run in '22 | Arizona Capitol Times". February 18, 2022.
  10. ^ "Our Campaigns - AZ State Senate 10 - R Primary Race - Aug 02, 2022".
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Ousted Republican reflects on Trump, democracy and America: 'The place has lost its mind'". TheGuardian.com. August 21, 2022.
  12. ^ "Rusty Bowers defied Donald Trump - what happens now?". BBC News. 2022-07-30. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  13. ^ "Russell Bowers". Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  14. ^ Christie, Bob; Riccardi, Nicholas (November 14, 2020). "GOP leaders in 4 states quash dubious Trump bid on electors". Associated Press.
  15. ^ "JAN 6 4TH COMMITTEE HEARING T..." January 6th. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
  16. ^ Bustillo, Ximena (June 21, 2022). "Arizona lawmaker Rusty Bowers details the pressure put on him by Trump and Giuliani". NPR.
  17. ^ Rose, Andy; Stracqualursi, Veronica (February 4, 2022). "Arizona Republican House speaker effectively dooms GOP bill to allow state legislature to reject election results". CNN.
  18. ^ "GOP election rift engulfs Mesa lawmakers". East Valley Tribune. December 15, 2020.
  19. ^ Stone, Kevin (May 23, 2022). "Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers receives JFK Profile in Courage Award". KTAR-FM.
  20. ^ "Arizona Republicans censure Rusty Bowers days before Trump rally here". KPNX. July 19, 2022.
  21. ^ Christie, Bob (August 3, 2022). "Jan. 6 witness Rusty Bowers has no regrets in GOP race loss". AP News.
  22. ^ "Russell Bowers".
  23. ^ "'With great difficulty Donetta and I announce the passing of our beautiful daughter Kacey Rae Bowers...'". Facebook. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
  24. ^ "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2014 General Election November 4, 2014" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 9. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  25. ^ "Arizona House of Representatives District 25". Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  26. ^ "Arizona House of Representatives District 25". Retrieved December 1, 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Russell Bowers.
Arizona House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the Arizona House of Representatives
from the 21st district
1993–1997
Served alongside: Leslie Whiting Johnson, Marilyn Jarrett 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Arizona House of Representatives
from the 25th district
2015–present
Served alongside: Michelle Udall 		Incumbent
Arizona Senate
Preceded by Member of the Arizona Senate
from the 21st district
1997–2003 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives
2019–present 		Incumbent
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