Russell "Rusty" Bowers (born October 20, 1952) is an American politician and the current

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Senate. The House convenes in the legislative chambers at the Arizona State C ...

. A member of the Republican Party, he has represented the 25th legislative district since 2015. 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 The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figures). Members serve two-year terms w ...

from 1997 to 2001. He is a classically trained artist specializing in watercolor, oil painting, and sculpting, and also has been involved in the construction and education industries. In February 2022, Bowers filed paperwork to run for the

in the 10th district. He lost to

Dave Farnsworth David Christian Farnsworth (born July 16, 1951) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Arizona Senate representing District 10 since 2023. He was previously appointed to the Arizona Senate on September 11, 2013, to fill the va ...

in the Republican primary.

Early life and education

Bowers, who is a fourth-generation Arizonan, grew up on a sheep ranch in Chino Valley. He attended

Mesa Community College Mesa Community College (MCC) is a public community college in Mesa, Arizona. It is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, the largest community college district in the United States in ter ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, and

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. A member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

, he spent two years as a

Mormon missionary Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and commu ...

in Mexico.

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 The 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election, in which all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated. Arizona voters chose 11 e ...

. On June 21, 2022, Bowers testified to the

January 6 committee The United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (the January 6th Committee) is a bipartisan select committee of the U.S. House of Representatives established to investigate the U.S. ...

. As part of his testimony, he stated that when he asked

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

for evidence that there was fraud, Giuliani responded, "We have lots of theories, we just don't have the evidence". Bowers also killed a bill in the

which would have allowed the state legislature to override the results of a presidential election in Arizona. 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. For his efforts in resisting the attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, Bowers was awarded the

John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award The Profile in Courage Award is a private award given to recognize displays of courage similar to those John F. Kennedy originally described in his Profiles in Courage, book of the same name. It is given to individuals (often elected officials) wh ...

. He was one of five honorees to receive the award in 2022. Nevertheless, on July 19, 2022, the

Arizona Republican Party The Arizona Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Arizona. Its headquarters are in Phoenix. The party currently controls four of Arizona's nine U.S. House seats, both houses of the state legislature, and the governorship ...

censured Bowers for his resistance. In 2022, Bowers ran for the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

, 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 ave doneit again in a heartbeat".

Personal life

Bowers is married to Donetta Russell, with whom he has had seven children. 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. In January 2021, Bowers announced the death of his daughter, Kacey Rae Bowers at 42, who had been fighting hepatic cancer for a "long period of time." Her last weeks were troubled by the presence of Trump supporters, one armed, demonstrating noisily outside Bowers' home.

Elections

* 2014 – Bowers and Olson defeated Haydee Dawson, Michelle Udall and Jerry Walker in the Republican primary. Olson and Bowers defeated David Butler, Sheila Ogea, and Libertarian

Michael Kielsky Michael Kielsky is an American attorney, perennial candidate, and the former Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Arizona. Kielsky, a Phoenix attorney, challenged the results of Arizona's controversial 2016 presidential primary. Kielsky is a lead ...

in the general election, with Bowers receiving 33,220 votes. * 2016 – Bowers and Udall defeated Ross Groen in the Republican primary. Bowers and Udall defeated Kathleen Rahn, with Bowers receiving 51,160 votes. * 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.

Notes

References

External links

Official page
at the

Arizona State Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the s ...

Campaign site

Ballotpedia Page
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowers, Russell 1952 births 21st-century American politicians Brigham Young University alumni Latter Day Saints from Arizona Living people Painters from Arizona Politicians from Mesa, Arizona Sculptors from Arizona Speakers of the Arizona House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives