Wendy Rogers (born July 24, 1954) is an American far-right politician who has served in the Arizona Senate since 2021. She currently represents the 7th district as a member of the Republican Party.
Rogers was a U.S. Air Force officer from 1976 to 1996. Before winning election to the state Senate, she unsuccessfully ran for various state and federal offices between 2010 and 2018. In 2020, Rogers mounted a successful primary challenge against incumbent State Senator Sylvia Allen and went on to defeat the Democratic nominee in the general election. Rogers was initially elected to represent the 6th district, but was later re-elected to represent the 7th district due to redistricting.
As a candidate and member of the Arizona Senate, Rogers has courted controversy with inflammatory rhetoric, support for Donald Trump and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and her embrace of white nationalism including various antisemitic and racist conspiracy theories. She is a member of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government militia group whose members took part in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
In March 2022, Rogers received a rare censure by the Republican-controlled state senate for her remarks to the white nationalist America First Political Action Conference, and was the subject of an ethics investigation after suggesting that the 2022 Buffalo shooting was a U.S. government false flag operation.
Early life and education Rogers was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, on July 24, 1954. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work from Michigan State University, a Master of Social Work from the University of Alabama, and a Master of Science in National Security Studies from California State University, San Bernardino.
Military career Rogers served in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1996, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. One of the first 100 female pilots in the Air Force, Rogers earned her flight wings in 1981 and went on to fly the C-141 Starlifter heavy military transport aircraft and C-21 "Learjet" transport. Rogers was later stationed in Europe.
Political career Beginning in 2010, Rogers ran unsuccessfully for public office five times. In 2010, Rogers ran for the Arizona Senate in the 17th legislative district, losing to Democrat David Schapira in the general election. In 2012, she ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona's 9th congressional district, losing the Republican primary to Vernon Parker.State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2012 Primary Election – August 28, 2012, Arizona Secretary of State. In 2014, she ran again for the 9th district and won the Republican nomination, but lost to incumbent Democratic congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema.State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2012 General Election – November 4, 2014, Arizona Secretary of State. During that campaign, Rogers used footage of the beheading video of American journalist James Foley by ISIL terrorists in a campaign ad seeking to attack Sinema as weak on national security. Democrats condemned the ad as a "reprehensible" smear tactic, while Rogers's campaign defended it.
In 2016, Rogers unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Arizona's 1st congressional district; she was one of a five-person field, along with Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, former state Senator and Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, rancher and businessman Gary Kiehne, and businessman Shawn Redd. During her primary campaign, Rogers was the sole candidate to support Donald Trump's proposal to build a wall on the border with Mexico. She also supported increasing the number of U.S. military personnel deployed to foreign conflicts. Rogers lost, coming in third place behind Babeu, who won the nomination, and Kiehne, the runner-up.Official Election Canvass of Results: 2016 Primary Election – August 30, 2016, Arizona Secretary of State. In 2018, Rogers ran again and won the Republican nomination for the 1st congressional district, but lost to incumbent Democratic congressman Tom O'Halleran.State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2018 General Election – November 6, 2018 , Arizona Secretary of State.
State Senate election and tenure In 2020, Rogers ran for the Arizona Senate in the 6th legislative district, which encompasses Rim Country and the White Mountains, and extends from Flagstaff to the Arizona–New Mexico border. Rogers unseated longtime Republican incumbent Sylvia Allen in a bitterly contested primary election, and defeated Democratic nominee Felicia French in the general election. During the campaign, Rogers made few public appearances, did not participate in debates, and avoided taking positions on local political issues, such as forest management, education funding, or Arizona's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dark money organizations on both sides spent large sums to support and oppose the two candidates. Rogers raised $1 million in campaign contributions, a record for the district. As a candidate and official, she has espoused far-right views and cultivated ties to far-right political causes.Abridged list of sources that refer to Rogers as far-right or having ties to far-right political causes:
Rogers took office in January 2021. Now serving her second term, she currently serves as Chair of the Arizona Senate Elections Committee, Vice Chair of the Government Committee, and member of the Military Affairs, Public Safety & Border Security Committee and Judiciary Committee, and as a member of the joint legislature's Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Study Committee.
Legislation In March 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona, Rogers sponsored legislation to declare gun shops "essential businesses" permitted to remain open during emergencies; the bill passed the Senate on a 16–14 party-line vote. In February 2021, Rogers sponsored legislation seeking to rename a portion of Arizona State Route 260 as the "Donald J. Trump Highway"; State Senator Martín Quezada, a Democrat from Phoenix, described Roger's proposal as "a desperate attempt" to pander to Trump supporters. In 2021, Rogers introduced a bill to ban abortions on the grounds of disability and make performing abortions for this reason a felony.
In January 2021, Rogers introduced legislation to create a special license plate and charitable fund for veterans of overseas conflicts, which passed after being signed into law by the governor.Rogers, Wendy. (January 13, 2021). SB1143 – 55th Arizona Legislature, First Regular Session. Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved from https://www.azleg.gov
In January 2022, Rogers proposed a bill that, if accepted, would make Arizona the first state to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, though doubts were raised about its compliance with the Contract Clause of the United States Constitution. Rogers subsequently introduced legislation to allow state agencies to accept cryptocurrencies in the payment of debts, and to exclude cryptocurrencies from Arizona taxes.
In 2024, Rogers sponsored several bills focusing on property rights, child safety, and mental health services. HB2408 amends the Arizona Revised Statutes to assist property owners who experience destruction of their property after the county assessor has closed the property tax rolls.Rogers, Wendy. (January 17, 2024). HB2408 – 56th Arizona Legislature, Second Regular Session. Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved from https://www.azleg.gov It allows the county assessor to adjust the property's value and maintain the property's classification for up to five years, depending on usage.
Rogers also sponsored HB2473, a bill that limits the maximum licensing fees for mental health professionals and provides fee waivers for individuals transitioning between associate-level and independent-level licensure.Rogers, Wendy. (January 17, 2024). HB2473 – 56th Arizona Legislature, Second Regular Session. Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved from https://www.azleg.gov
HB2479 requires the Department of Child Safety to notify law enforcement when a child in its care goes missing, is abducted, or runs away. The bill imposes new training and reporting requirements on the department to improve the response to these situations.Rogers, Wendy. (January 17, 2024). HB2479 – 56th Arizona Legislature, Second Regular Session. Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved from https://www.azleg.gov Rogers also sponsored SB1280, a bill that seeks to prevent individuals who are registered sex offenders from serving on school district governing boards.Rogers, Wendy. (January 17, 2024). SB1280 – 56th Arizona Legislature, Second Regular Session. Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved from https://www.azleg.gov The bill increases transparency by requiring county school superintendents to publish candidate statements and photographs for school board elections.
On December 16, 2024, Wendy Rogers made a second attempt to designate SR 260 as Donald J. Trump Highway with Arizona Senate Concurrent Memorial 1001. Results for this effort are pending.
2022 re-election campaign; death threat
Rogers was reelected to the Arizona Senate in the 7th legislative district in 2022.State of Arizona Official Canvass: 2022 General Election – November 8, 2022, Compiled and Issued by the Arizona Secretary of State. During the preceding redistricting cycle, Rogers's district went from leaning Republican to heavily Republican.Peter Aleshire, Sen. Rogers amasses huge financial advantage in re-election bid, Payson Roundup (October 28, 2022). She benefited from a "last-minute change" by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, which altered 7th district boundaries to shift more Democratic-leaning voters to a neighboring district. Rogers was drawn into the same legislative district as fellow incumbent Republican senator Kelly Townsend from Apache Junction. Former president Donald Trump endorsed Rogers, and by January 2022, Rogers had raised a record $2.5 million for her reelection campaign.
On July 4, 2022, Donald Glenn Brown, a former Tucson middle school music teacher, sent a death threat to a store in Show Low where Rogers was attending the city's Independence Day parade. Brown's email, sent from a fake account, threatened to fatally shoot Rogers and others at the store. Brown was charged with attempting to make a terroristic threat, a Class 4 felony. He pled guilty in April 2023 and was sentenced on June 6, 2023, to two and a half years in prison by Navajo County Superior Court Judge Joseph Clark. Reacting to the sentence, Rogers praised the ruling for protecting the interests of her constituents.
Rogers defeated Townsend in the Republican primary on August 22, 2022, having received 59.7% percent of the vote (24,023 votes) to Townsend's 40.3% (16,185). Rogers went on to defeat Democrat Kyle Nitschke in the general election, where she received 63.6% of the vote (63,019 votes) to Nitschke's 36.4% (36,030 votes).
2024 re-election campaign In 2023, Republican state representative David Cook, widely considered to be more moderate than Rogers, announced that he would challenge Rogers in the 2024 Republican primary election.Camryn Sanchez, Judge rules Wendy Rogers' primary opponent will stay on the ballot, KJZZ (FM) (April 25, 2024). Cook, term-limited from seeking re-election to the Arizona House, claimed that he decided to enter the race after Rogers retweeted a video containing sexually-explicit content from Hunter Biden's laptop.Jakob Thorington, Cook announces state Senate bid to challenge Rogers, Arizona Capitol Times (July 7, 2023). Rogers unsuccessfully sued in an attempt to block Cook from the primary ballot.Jakob Thorington, Cook beats Rogers in court, primary battle set, Arizona Capitol Times (April 24, 2024). In the primary election, Rogers defeated Cook with 55 percent of the vote.