Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers speaks on audit, AZ GOP future and more

In the early weeks after the 2020 election, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, resisted direct appeals by President Donald Trump and key allies to participate in a scheme to set aside the certified election results in Arizona.

He’s still getting lobbied by some in that orbit, and Bowers is still pushing back. His support was recently sought He recently received a recent effort to get his support on a bill to decertify the 2020 presidential election results. That effort was previously unknown. 

At the outset of this year’s legislative session, Bowers emphatically killed one bill that would have banned voting machines and mail voting, among other things. Bowers assigned the bill to 12 House committees, effectively ensuring its demise.

He also came out against another bill that would set aside the 2020 presidential results. Bowers called the legislation “profoundly unwise.” That bill was introduced by Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, a loyalist to former President Donald Trump.

In this week's episode of The Gaggle, an Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ron Hansen wanted to hear directly from the speaker. He is an artist by trade who is charting a decidedly different path than many in his party these days. 

The Gaggle met with Bowers in his office to discuss his relationship with Republican Party, previously unseen documents related to the 2020 presidential election results, and his future.

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