Arizona House of Representatives Speaker Russell Bowers (R), testifies during the fourth hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol on June 21, 2022.
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Rusty Bowers, Republican speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives who gave compelling testimony Earlier this summer, the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riots lost a state Senate race Tuesday to a candidate backed by former President Donald Trump, NBC News predicted.
Endorsed by Trump, former State Senator David Farnsworth led by more than 20 points over Bowers in the bid for Arizona’s 10th District as of 1:15 a.m. ET.
Bowers, who testified to the committee about the effort by Trump and his allies to help him overturn the 2020 election in his state, told NBC News last month that it would be difficult for him to win. in his race for the state Senate.
“It’s so hostile,” Bowers said later about the political climate in a phone interview, noting Trump’s overwhelming preference for his state’s Senate district, the 10th district of the United States. Arizona. “If I do this, it will be a miracle.”
Just weeks after Bowers’ testimony, Arizona Republicans censored him, saying he “proved he was unfit to serve the Arizona Republican platform.” and the will of the voters Republican Party in Arizona “and urge the voters” to permanently remove him from office. “
It is highly unusual for a member of state to make such a statement before a contested primaries.
Trump attacked Bowers on Monday on his Society of Truth platform, write: “Remember Arizona, your so-called ‘Speaker’, Rusty (an appropriate name because he’s Rusty, like steel rusts and weakens) Bowers, absolutely terrible.”
He urged the people of Arizona to “Vote for him!”
Bowers, who served 17 years in aggregate between the Arizona House and Senate, received this year’s John F. Kennedy Record Courage Award for his handling of the post-election period. His race is the first and possibly the only one to test this cycle of whether a Republican can openly overtake Trump in front of the Jan. 6 panel and still win the race. GOP primaries – the race takes place while Bowers’ testimony is still fresh in voters’ minds.
A few weeks ago, the conservative lawmaker told the committee he knew Trump and his allies were pursuing an unconstitutional effort to try to invalidate the 2020 election in his state, which President Joe Biden almost did.
Bowers, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told the committee: “I believe that the Constitution is divinely inspired, that this is the most fundamental fundamental belief. mine”. “And so for me to do it because someone just asked me, is strange to who I am; I’m not going to do it.”
Speaking to NBC News, Bowers described the reaction to his testimony in his county as mixed.
“Among my friends and people I know personally in the district, that’s good,” he said. “But overall, it’s not considered good. It’s: ‘You’re gone. Traitor.'”
He also said he disagreed with those who told him his decision to testify took courage.
“I don’t see I have a brave Don Quixote-esque [moment]. Probably so, but definitely not Joan of Arc,” Bowers said. But I did what I had to do. I know that there can be consequences, and in some cases, I know that it will end the relationship. But I have to tell the truth. That’s it. Aside from that, there’s nothing else. “
Shortly after Bowers’ public testimony, Trump issued a full statement about Farnsworth.
Bowers described Farnsworth as a backstabber who “does exactly zero” while previously serving in the state Senate for eight years.
The House speaker pushed for legislative victories from his most recent term, including overseeing the passage of a bipartisan budget package and legislation to bring new water to the state – one of the conservation problems is huge.
Farnsworth prominently advertises his Trump endorsementwhile claiming to be the best candidate to tackle inflation, border migration and overhauled elections.
Asked what Farnsworth’s victory would say about the state of the party, Bowers said afterward: “It said Mr. Trump has, yes, I would almost call it the extreme call.”
