State Senator Anthony Kern (R-Glendale) held a press conference on March 24 denouncing Attorney General Kris Mayes convening a grand jury to indict Arizona’s alternate slate of electors for Donald Trump from 2020. Reports circulated earlier in March that Mayes issued grand jury subpoenas to people connected to Trump’s attempt to find fraud in the 2020 election.
Kern, who is running for Congress in Arizona’s Congressional District 8 to replace outgoing Representative Debbie Lesko amidst a competitive field of primary candidates, began, “What’s so wrong about standing up for the rule of law and our Arizona constitutional principles, and when did that become a crime?”
He said, “Up until the 2020 election, neither party had ever protested the election challenges of the other and accused them of engaging in criminal illegal conduct and using lawfare tactics to bankrupt me and prevent me from running for office in 2024.”
Kern asked, “Isn’t there something wrong when the rule of law gets applied indiscriminately in favor of only one political party, the Democrat Party, instead of Governor Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes working seriously? Not securing the borders and defending Arizona’s constitutional rights under the invasion clause of the U.S. Constitution; Article Four, Section Four, just like other states are doing.”
“They both want to send me to jail,” he declared. “Republicans being attacked by Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes, and from within the Democrat Party, only enforcing those laws they deem appropriate while refusing to enforce laws that they deem inappropriate.”
Kern said, “It is time to stand up to the tyranny of the Democrat elected leaders and hold them accountable. Difficult times leave us feeling exposed and unprotected. However, God offers us security that isn’t dependent on our situation. Proverbs 18:10 says the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the godly run to him, and are safe.”
He vowed, “I will never allow the Democrat Party or machine to use me in their unhinged quest to get to President Trump. I will never give in. I will never give up, and I will never surrender, and that includes the First Amendment right to the press, the media, and, and every journalist here today.”
Kern concluded, “I will not let Governor Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes or Democrat Party lawfare suppress my exercise of the rule of law, or suppress my ability to preserve, protect and defend the constitutional freedoms and principles, our Republic was founded upon.”
After the press conference, the mainstream media swarmed Kern with questions, chasing him as he walked up to the county court building where he held the press conference, but he refused to respond to any of them.
Alternate slates of electors have been indicted in other states. Others in Arizona’s alternate slate of electors include State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, and Turning Point COO Tyler Bowyer.
The Maricopa County Republican Committee unanimously passed a resolution in December calling for the impeachment of Mayes over prosecuting Republicans for election integrity efforts and other hostility to election integrity. It accused Mayes of “abusing her prosecutorial powers as the Arizona Attorney General,” by engaging in “an act of political prosecution common in dictatorships or communist countries.”
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on X / Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “State Sen. Anthony Kern” by State Sen Anthony Kern.
