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Karen Fann

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Norman6661 (talk | contribs) at 03:38, 10 May 2021 (Put her date of birth where it usually appears in Wikipedia biographies. My source is the side summary Wikipedia provides for political figures.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Karen Fann
President of the Arizona Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 14, 2019
Preceded bySteve Yarbrough
Member of the Arizona Senate
from the 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 9, 2017
Preceded bySteve Pierce
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives
from the 1st district
In office
January 5, 2011 – January 9, 2017
Preceded byLucy Mason
Succeeded byDavid Stringer
Personal details
Born
Karen Elizabeth Fann

(1954-09-01) September 1, 1954 (age 69) [1]
Political partyRepublican
SpouseJames McKown
WebsiteCampaign website

Karen Fann (born September 1, 1954) is a Republican member of the Arizona Senate, representing Arizona Legislative District 1.[2][3] Fann became President of the Arizona Senate in 2019.

After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump and other Republicans made false claims of fraud, Fann ordered an audit into the election results in Maricopa County. There was no evidence of significant fraud in the election. The company hired by Fann to lead the audit was owned by a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist.

Career

Fann is a licensed realtor. She and her husband own a horse ranch. In 1984, Fann started Arizona Highway Safety Specialists, a road sign and guardrail business.[1] She was a council member on both the Prescott and Chino Valley city councils, as well as mayor of Chino Valley.

Arizona legislature

Between 2011 and 2017, Fann was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing Arizona Legislative District 1. She was elected to the Arizona Senate in 2016.[4]

After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election in Arizona and Donald Trump refused to concede while making false claims of fraud, Fann ordered an audit of the election results in Maricopa County (at the time, the results had audited and verified multiple times, finding no evidence of significant fraud).[5][6] The company hired by Fann to lead the audit was owned by a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist who had promoted false claims of fraud.[7][8][9]

Under Fann, the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate invoked baseless claims of fraud to demand that Maricopa County turn over ballots and other materials to the Senate. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors turned over a massive volume of documents to the Senate, but Republicans continued to make unfounded claims of fraud, even after such claims were rejected by the Arizona Supreme Court and other courts.[10] Multiple checks, including tests of ballot tabulating machines and software both before and after the election, as well as a hand count of a ballot sample, showed that the election in Maricopa County was free, fair, and administered properly.[11] Arizona Democrats called Fann's quest a "charade" fueled by a desire to undermining the settled will of voters.[11] In February 2021, Fann sought to hold the Maricopa County board in contempt; the contempt resolution failed after one Republican senator, Paul Boyer, joined all Democrats in voting no, resisting pressure from Fann to change his vote.[10] Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo, a Democrat, expressed concern that the efforts of state Senate Republicans to question the election outcome could cause violence, saying: "And I would hope that Karen Fann knows who’s she talking to. Every time she throws something out there, this whole group that was part of this insurrection, that's the audience that she's talking to."[10]

The U.S. Justice Department sent Fann a letter, expressing concern that the audit could run afoul of federal laws regarding ballot custody and voter intimidation.[12] In response to the letter and the public backlash, Fann informed the DOJ that she had scrapped provisions to have the company behind the audit knock on voters’ doors to confirm voter registration information.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Meet Karen". Elect Karen Fann. Retrieved Feb 4, 2021.
  2. ^ "Senate Member - Arizona Legislature". Arizona Legislature. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  3. ^ "Karen Fann". Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona State Legislature. Archived from the original on April 12, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  4. ^ "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2016 General Election November 8, 2016" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  5. ^ Randazzo, Andrew Oxford, Jen Fifield and Ryan. "Founder of company hired to conduct Maricopa County election audit promoted election fraud theories". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2021-04-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "A cybersecurity expert who promoted claims of fraud in the 2020 election is leading the GOP-backed recount of millions of ballots in Arizona". The Washington Post. 2021.
  7. ^ "Arizona Senate hires a 'Stop the Steal' advocate to lead 2020 election audit". Arizona Mirror. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  8. ^ Christie, Bob (2021-04-01). "CEO of firm eyeing ballots appeared to make political posts". Associated Press.
  9. ^ "Election auditor wrote 'election fraud facts' report for GOP senators who tried to overturn the 2020 election". Arizona Mirror. 2021-04-09. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  10. ^ a b c Bob Christie (February 8, 2021). "Senate contempt vote in election fight with board fails". Associated Press.
  11. ^ a b Bob Christie (March 22, 2021). "Arizona Democrats call recount of Maricopa ballots 'charade'". Associated Press.
  12. ^ "Arizona Republicans hunt for bamboo-laced China ballots in 2020 'audit' effort". the Guardian. 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  13. ^ Duda, Jeremy; May 7, Arizona Mirror; 2021 (2021-05-07). "Fann tells DOJ she scrapped audit plans to canvass voters". Arizona Mirror. Retrieved 2021-05-07. {{cite web}}: |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Political offices
Preceded by President of the Arizona Senate
2019–present 		Incumbent


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