State Senator Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix) resigned earlier this month from the Arizona Legislature, leaving a void that must be filled by a Republican from that district per state law. The precinct committeemen in Legislative District 2, which is based in north Phoenix, will select three names at a meeting on June 26 to send to the Maricopa County Supervisors, who will have the final pick.
The Arizona Sun Times has learned of five Republicans who have submitted their names for consideration to LD 2. Linda Brickman, a longtime grassroots activist, told The Arizona Sun Times she is running. Brickman, who is married to election and regulatory attorney Bob Brickman, sends out weekly legislative updates to a list of over 10,000 Arizonans, including GOP LD chairs and county chairs, who then distribute them further. A former chair of the Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC), she was recently asked by the MCRC to serve as their chairman for legislative affairs. If appointed to the legislature, she intends to start an LD 2 citizen legislative forum which would bring in people weekly before bills are brought to talk to legislators about them, including over Zoom calls.
While serving as MCRC chair, Brickman refused to certify the Dominion voting machine tabulators. She worked at Maricopa County Tabulation and Elections Center as a temporary employee for 20 years, including during signature verification, and after the 2020 election assisted with the independent ballot audit. Based on her experience, she said she knows there is a lack of integrity throughout government. She said she will show both sides of a story.
An America First candidate, one of the issues Brickman champions is stopping illegal immigration. Brickman volunteered on both Kari Lake’s and Mark Finchem’s campaigns last year. She worked as a certified paralegal and authored 24 children’s books.
Brickman hopes to shake things up a bit at the legislature, telling The Sun Times, “I don’t want the same old status quo since it’s gotten us to where we are today.” She wants to make some changes, such as providing legislators with their own assistants instead of requiring them to share staff. “It’s a part time-legislature with full time problems,” she said. “Why does the governor get three floors of staff?”
LD 2 Chair Paul Carver told The Sun Times that he’s been asked by friends and family to run, and has been endorsed by Kaiser. He serves on the Deer Valley School Board, and intends to continue serving in that capacity if selected for the position, noting that State Representative Beverly Pingerelli (R-Peoria) also continues to serve on a school board. Relatively new to politics, he said “It’s time for normal, everyday people to get out of their comfort zone and impact change.” He is “leery of people who want to be in charge,” and is concerned that “people feel like they’re not being heard.”
Carver organized one of the largest red waves of caravans in Phoenix to support Donald Trump prior to the 2020 presidential election. His family has lived in the Phoenix area since the 1940s, and he previously served in the Marines and obtained a masters degree in business administration.
While serving on the school board, the father of eight found a way to work with a board member on the opposite side of the aisle, conducting a drive to raise shoes for students. They raised over 250 pairs of shoes for the district, prompting a friend of his who worked for the Arizona Rattlers to conduct similar follow-up drives.
While serving in the legislature, Bolick championed education issues, illegal immigration, states’ rights, the Second Amendment, religious freedom, and the sanctity of life. She left the legislature to unsuccessfully run for secretary of state last year championing election integrity, because she “realized Democrats were playing politics within the walls of the office.”
Bolick is married to Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, who co-founded the right-leaning Institute for Justice and shares two children with her. She noted that LD 2 is considered a swing district, and she has a proven record of getting reelected there in 2020, despite strong Democratic opposition. Republicans hold a slim 1-vote majority in both the house and senate.
State Representative Alex Kolodin (R-Scottsdale), an election attorney who has championed election integrity, highly recommended Bolick for the position. In an endorsement statement, he said, “[M]y friend and mentor Shawnna Bolick, is perhaps the single best choice of anyone in Arizona to fill a vacancy in the legislature — myself included. … Shawnna has been a warrior for election integrity since before the issue was sexy. … ‘[H]er efforts to build up other conservative warriors to help advance the cause are second to none — a fact of which I am living proof.”
Ari Bradshaw, president of the North Valley Young Republicans, also submitted his name. He told The Sun Times that he has been endorsed by State Representative David Marshall (R-Snowflake), State Representative Teresa Martinez (R-Casa Grande), Maricopa County Water Board member Amanda Monize, Fountain Hills Town Councilwoman Hannah Toth, Maricopa County Young Republicans President Luke Mosimann, and Sam Stone. State Senator Justine Wadsack (R-Tucson) and State Representative Rachel Jones (R-Tucson) support him, he said.
He described himself as a “liberty Republican” who values individualism and responsibility. “I believe that water issues, education issues, and housing issues are the most important to my generation,” he said.
In a letter he sent to LD 2 PCs, he said he “worked for Kari Lake and Sam Stone during their respective general elections and currently manage the Arizona Majority project for the Arizona State House Majority.” He worked on the campaigns of “Walt Blackman, Dave Marshall, Blake Masters, David Farnsworth … Christian Lamar, Justin Wilmeth, and Steve Kaiser.” He pointed out that he has “a unique ability to appeal to Millennials and Gen Z voters — who are now the largest general voting block in our district.”
Bradshaw is known for his political videos, including legislative updates.
A fifth candidate who put their hat into the ring is Josh Barnett, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress twice. The grassroots candidate told The Sun Times, “I filed to run for the LD2 AZ Senate race to give the People the representation they deserve. I will fill the communication void that has been formed over the years between the People and their elected Servants, which has led to increased frustration with our State government. I will provide daily video updates to keep ALL voters informed on the issues at hand.”
He went on, “I will focus on providing an environment where small and medium-sized businesses can thrive without government interference. I will push to expand school choice and hand decision-making powers back to the parents wherever possible. I will pursue election integrity to the fullest extent of the Constitution, so I can guarantee the People will have LEGALLY run elections where statutes, rules, form, and procedures are followed according to the law.”
A source told The Sun Times that Bradshaw and Barnett are not PCs, although they may be in the process of becoming them, so they will be ineligible to vote. There are about 88 PCs in LD 2. LD 2 is one of five competitive districts in the state; the house seats are held by Republican Justin Wilmeth and Democrat Judy Schwiebert.
Kaiser resigned on June 16, five months into his term in the senate. He served in the house prior to that from 2020-21. In his resignation letter, he said, “I will continue to serve by leading a new non-profit I have founded, called the Arizona Prosperity Project. This new 501c4 non-profit will focus on growing the Republican majority in the legislature and electing conservative school board members across the state. The non-profit will also focus on developing good conservative policies around issues that impact every Arizonan.”
The legislature has only 1-vote Republican majorities in both chambers, and with Democrat Katie Hobbs as governor, not much legislation is being signed into law. Kaiser also said in his letter, “Watching good conservative policies be vetoed has made me become more focused on a desire to grow our majority.”
Kaiser was one of 30 elected and former Arizona lawmakers who signed a letter to former Vice President Mike Pence asking him to overturn the results of the state’s election and give the electors to then-President Donald Trump and delay their counting pending an audit.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Steve Kaiser” by Arizona State Legislature. Background Photo “Arizona State Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect the current field of five candidates running to replace State Senator Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix).
