Flagstaff Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers has made national news for her hard-right views and associations with extremist groups.
She’s represented parts of northern and central Arizona since 2021 and, despite the controversy, is likely to win reelection next month against a Democratic opponent in the Republican-dominated 7th Legislative district.
Roger's rural district stretches from Flagstaff to the outskirts of Tucson, including traditionally conservative communities like Williams, Globe and Payson.
She was elected to the state senate in 2021 and has spent the last three years focused on pushing claims debunked by courts about Arizona elections.
Rogers — who wouldn't agree to a taped interview with KNAU — made her case that Democrats have stolen elections to conservative Tucson radio host Garret Lewis during the Republican National Convention this year.
“Because they will cheat, and I know it as the chairman of the senate elections committee, I've seen it, I've seen the receipts,” Rogers said.
And, on the Jeff Oravits Show, she connected election security to another key piece of her platform — immigration.
“When you hand out benefits to illegals and enable them to possibly be registering to vote, that’s a real problem," Rogers said.
Rogers was among those who voted for a ballot initiative that would give local law enforcement the power to arrest migrants who cross into the state outside a port of entry. Voters will decide on the issue in the upcoming election.
“This is because we have unlimited and unchecked, mass illegal immigration across our border,” Rogers said, speaking in a Senate committee earlier this year.
Rogers’ views on immigration have been skewered by Democrats, but she’s controversial even within the Republican party.
She made national news for her participation in a 2022 conference that civil rights groups say was attended by “klansman, neo-nazis and white supremacists”.
She called those in attendance "patriots."
Republican campaign advisor Barrett Marson has never personally worked with Rogers, but he says her controversies have continued throughout her two terms.
“Certainly, a lot of people would probably appreciate not having some of her statements, antisemitic statements, you know, embracing the pre-war German national anthem," Marson says.
Rogers has also been dogged by questions about whether she lives in the rural district she represents. She listed a Chandler address on campaign finance documents earlier this year but claims her primary residence is in a mobile home community in Flagstaff.
But Marson is not convinced voters know or care about Rogers' past controversies.
“That requires there to be a sort of informed electorate, who keeps up with all the news, or maybe a significant amount of spending in that district by Democrats and I just don’t think you’ll see that," Marson says.
Marson says a Democrat's chance to win Legislative District 7 is slim.
That hasn't stopped Haley Creighton from trying.
"Someone like that should not be representing the state, should not be representing this district, and I think a lot of people are feeling that. So just making sure that that's known and that there is an alternative," Creighton says.
Creighton is two years out of Northern Arizona University and a full-time organizer for the Arizona Students Association. She’s made reproductive rights a central aspect of her campaign and wants to enshrine access to abortion in the state constitution.
“We also have to do more to protect doctors and make them feel like they can be giving this care, and that they can do it across the state, and that's affordable for people who need it, right? Because that just making it legal is like the first step," Creighton says.
Creighton says she’s realistic about her chances of beating Wendy Rogers. But she still wants to show Democrats can compete.
“Even if all my campaign accomplishes is to turn out more Democrats and inspire someone else to do this next time, then I feel like I've won," Creighton says.
Rogers skipped a virtual debate with Creighton organized by the nonpartisan Arizona Clean Elections Commission.
She was also a no-show at the debate against her primary opponent, fellow Republican and state Representative David Cook.
She won that race by more than 4,000 votes.
