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Revision as of 23:46, 7 October 2022 by Pemilligan (talk | contribs) (Adjusted references and external links. Script-assisted date audit and style fixes per MOS:NUM.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) American politician
| Mark Finchem | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Arizona House of Representatives from the 11th district | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 5, 2015Serving with Teresa Martinez | |
| Preceded by | Adam Kwasman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1956 or 1957 (age 67–68) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Kalamazoo Valley Community College (AAS) Grand Canyon University (BA) University of Arizona (MLS) |
| Website | Campaign website |
Mark William Finchem (born 1956/1957) is an American far-right politician serving as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing District 11 since January 5, 2015. He is the Arizona Coordinator for the Coalition of Western States, an organization that opposes the activities of the Bureau of Land Management and supported the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.
Finchem is a member of the militia group Oath Keepers. He is the Republican nominee in the 2022 race to become Secretary of State of Arizona.
Early life and education
Finchem was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Kalamazoo. After graduating high school, he worked as a firefighter and police officer in Kalamazoo, and in 1984 earned an Associate degree in criminal justice from Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Finchem also lived and worked as a rancher in Delton, Michigan.
Finchem retired from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety in 1999; personnel records included the note, "poor rating, would not rehire". He then moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he worked for the business and financial software company Intuit and received a Six Sigma process improvement certification. Finchem later worked as a real estate broker and realtor, and for Clean Power Technologies LLC, an Idaho-based sustainable energy company.
Finchem holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in State and Local Public Policy from Grand Canyon University, and a Master of Legal Studies (MLS) from the University of Arizona.
Political career
Arizona House of Representatives
Finchem was first elected to the Arizona legislature in 2014, finishing second in the Republican primary behind Vince Leach before advancing to the general election in Arizona's top-two nominating process. Finchem and Leach ran successfully in the general election. Finchem came in first with 36,732 votes, ahead of Leach and Democratic challenger Holly Lyon.
Finchem and Leach defeated Democrats Corin Hammond and Barry McCain (write-in candidate) in the 2016 general election.
In 2016, Finchem introduced legislation that would prohibit Arizona from implementing presidential executive orders, directives issued by federal agencies and U.S. Supreme Court rulings. In 2019 he introduced a bill to create a code of ethics for teachers which consisted primarily of text from a report published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He also sponsored in 2019 a bill that would seek to transfer management of federal lands in Arizona to the state government.
In 2020, Finchem ran for speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, challenging incumbent Republican Russell Bowers. He said that if elected he would prioritize the development of viral content, and received the support of less than one third of the House Republican caucus.
As of 2021, Finchem is a member of the House of Representatives' committees on the Judiciary, on Military Affairs & Public Safety, and on Natural Resources, Energy & Water. In 2022, Republican state senator T. J. Shope described Finchem as a "political gadfly", while another Republican state senator, Paul Boyer, described him as "one of the dumbest" members of the Arizona House of Representatives.
Coalition of Western States
As of 2016, Finchem was Arizona Coordinator of the Coalition of Western States (COWS), a group founded by Washington state representative Matt Shea in 2014 to support Cliven Bundy and his family in their confrontation with law enforcement, which also supported the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Mark Pitcavage of the Anti-Defamation League described COWS as motivated by "anti-government extremism and anti-public lands extremism", and said that Finchem's membership indicated he shared extremist views.
2022 Secretary of State campaign
In March 2021, Finchem announced he would run for Secretary of State of Arizona in the 2022 election. He received Donald Trump's endorsement in September 2021 and won the Republican primary on August 2, 2022. Finchem's primary campaign was supported by the America First Secretary of State Coalition.
Finchem has indicated that if he loses the election, he will not concede.
Views and positions
Response to the 2020 presidential election
Following the 2020 United States presidential election, Finchem supported the "Stop the Steal" movement which falsely claimed that Donald Trump won the election nationally and in Arizona.
In 2021, Finchem shared on social media a "report" falsely claiming to have uncovered tens of thousands of missing or lost votes, and tens of thousands of votes fraudulently cast, in Maricopa County, Arizona. The report was based on extrapolations from a non-random sample of a much smaller number of voters and was rejected by county elections officials and political scientists.
Finchem then called for the Arizona legislature to appoint presidential electors of its own choosing.
It was later revealed that a business affiliated with Finchem, Mrk Finchem PLLC [sic], received $6,037 from the Trump reelection campaign. Finchem said the payment was for security costs related to his meeting with Rudy Giuliani.
2021 U.S. Capitol attack
Main article: 2021 United States Capitol attackFinchem traveled to Washington, D.C. to take part in the January 6, 2021, protest that was followed by an attack on the U.S. Capitol. He said there was "substantial evidence that this election was a fraud" and tweeted photographs of protestors massed on the steps of the Capitol building. Finchem later claimed that leftists had instigated the violence.
A coalition of community organizations subsequently called for the expulsion of Finchem and six other Arizona Republican lawmakers who advocated overturning the 2020 election. In response to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) briefing that said antifa groups were not involved in the attack on the Capitol, Finchem said he did not "trust a word that comes out of the FBI's mouth".
Promotion of conspiracy theories
In 2013, Finchem argued that Barack Obama was seeking to establish a "totalitarian dictatorship."
In 2017, Finchem baselessly described the white supremacist Unite the Right rally as a "deep state psyop" carried out by Democrats.
Finchem is a staunch proponent of the disproven conspiracy theory that the 2020 United States presidential election was "stolen" for Joe Biden through electoral fraud.
Personal life
Finchem has been married four times, and has been estranged for over two decades from two adult children and has not met his grandchildren by them, according to family members. He also has two stepchildren.
References
- Hakim, Danny (August 1, 2022). "Trump-Backed Conspiracy Theorist Vies to Take Over Arizona Elections". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
- ^ "Mark Finchem". Arizona State Legislature. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- "Financial Disclosure Statement" (PDF). Retrieved October 4, 2022.
- ^ Flaherty, Joseph (March 22, 2019). "From Charlottesville to Oath Keepers, Rep. Mark Finchem Is a Fringe Lawmaker". Phoenix New Times.
- Cathey, Libby (May 23, 2022). "Experts warn of 'emergency' as Trump-backed election deniers could win primary races". ABC News. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- Itkowitz, Colby; Gardner, Amy; Dawsey, Josh (June 15, 2022). "Nevada Republicans join GOP wave of nominating election deniers". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- Medina, Jennifer (May 5, 2022). "In Arizona, a Swing State Swings to the Far Right". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- McCarthy, Bill; Sherman, Amy (June 7, 2022). "A coalition of 'stop the steal' Republicans aims to take control of US elections. QAnon is helping". Politifact. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- ^ Kelety, Josh (October 1, 2020). "Rep. Mark Finchem Worked With Anti-Government Extremists, Emails Show". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- Simon, Mallory; Sidner, Sara; Jones, Julia; Kravarik, Jason (June 3, 2021). "What happened after locally elected officials posted or openly supported QAnon conspiracy theories". CNN.
- ^ Stahl, Jeremy (August 2, 2022). "Capitol Rioter Who Compared "Cancel Culture" to the Holocaust One Step Closer to Running Arizona's Elections". Slate. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
- ^ "Arizona State Rep. Mark Finchem - Biography". LegiStorm. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- "House Member". www.azleg.gov. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- Devereaux, Brad (January 11, 2021). "Lawmaker, former Kalamazoo policeman tweets #stopthesteal from violent riot at U.S. Capitol". MLive. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- ^ Hakim, Danny (August 1, 2022). "Trump-Backed Conspiracy Theorist Vies to Take Over Arizona Elections". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
- ^ Stephenson, Hank (August 18, 2022). "'Never in a Million Years': Arizona Republicans Grapple with the Rising Fringe". Politico. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
- "Mark Finchem". Republican Legislative Victory Fund. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- "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.
- "Arizona Secretary of State Election Night Reporting". Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
- Hsieh, Steven; Flaherty, Joseph (January 3, 2019). "Arizona Lawmaker Lifted Teacher Code of Ethics From Far-Right Group". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- Fischer, Howard (March 31, 2021). "Rep. Finchem Starts Run For Secretary of State". KAWC-FM. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- Cillizza, Chris (September 14, 2021). "Donald Trump is now backing a QAnon conspiracy theorist to run Arizona's elections". CNN. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- Montellaro, Zach (August 1, 2022). "Trump-backed conspiracy theorist makes charge for chief election position in Arizona". Politico. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
- Hakim, Danny (August 1, 2022). "Trump-Backed Conspiracy Theorist Vies to Take Over Arizona Elections". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
- ^ Waltz, Adam (January 8, 2021). "Seven Arizonan Republican legislators face calls to ban them from the House and Senate". KNXV. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
- Swenson, Ali (September 10, 2021). "FACT FOCUS: AZ canvass report draws nonsensical conclusions". Associated Press. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
- ^ Oxford, Andrew (February 6, 2021). "Trump campaign paid Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem $6,000 during effort to overturn election results". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- Oxford, Andrew (January 7, 2021). "Among some in Arizona GOP, siege of the US Capitol was everyone's fault except Trump". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
- Gamiño, Gabriel (January 8, 2021). "Organizations call for expulsion of several Arizona GOP lawmakers". KTAR-FM. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
- Siders, David (January 13, 2021). "Capitol riot fueled by deep network of GOP statehouse support". Politico. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
External links
- "Official page". Arizona State Legislature. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022.
- Biography at Ballotpedia
- Campaign page
