Russell Bowers

Bowers, who is a fourth-generation Arizonan,^[6] grew up on a sheep ranch in Chino Valley.^[7] He attended Mesa Community College, Arizona State University, and Brigham Young University. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Mexico.^[8]

After Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Bowers refused to cooperate with Trump and Rudy Giuliani in their attempts to overturn the results in Arizona. Bowers publicly stated that there was no evidence whatsoever of election fraud that would otherwise mandate rejection of the results in Arizona.^[6][9] On June 21, 2022, Bowers testified before the House January 6 committee. As part of his testimony, Bowers stated that when he asked Rudy Giuliani for evidence regarding election fraud claims, Giuliani responded, "We have lots of theories, we just don't have the evidence".^[10]

In December 2020, colleague Senator Kelly Townsend wanted Bowers to call the legislature into session and appoint an alternate slate of electors. When he refused, Townsend doxed Bowers on Twitter, revealing his home address, and urged her militia followers to protest at his home.^[11]

In January 2021, a convoy of Trump supporters rolled up in front of his property, with megaphones and a giant sign accusing him of pedophilia. At the end of December, 2023, Bowers was swatted, with the police getting a false alarm having accused the owner of the premises of having killed his wife. He also received threatening phone calls and e-mails.^[12][13]

In February 2022, Bowers denied a bill in the Arizona House of Representatives which would have allowed the state legislature to override the results of a presidential election in Arizona.^[14]

For his efforts in resisting the attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, Bowers was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. He was one of five honorees to receive the award that year.^[15] On July 19, 2022, the Arizona Republican Party censured Bowers for his resistance.^[16]

In 2022, Bowers ran for the State Senate, as he was being termed out from the State House. He lost the Republican primary for the State Senate by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, with the loss being attributed to his resistance to overturning the 2020 presidential election. In spite of the loss, Bowers said he had no regrets about his resistance and "would [have done] it again in a heartbeat".^[17][6]

Bowers is married to Donetta Russell, with whom he has had seven children.^[18][6] Bowers is a painter and rancher. He is a classically trained artist specializing in watercolor, oil painting, and sculpting,^[19] and he has also been involved in the construction and education industries.^[18]

In 2021, Bowers's property was deeply affected by a fire that ravaged his farm, and burnt his painting studio where much of his work, as well as a significant portion of his legislative papers, were stored.^[6]

In late January 2021, Bowers announced the death of his daughter, Kacey Rae Bowers at 42, who had been fighting hepatic cancer for a "long period of time."^[20] Her last weeks were troubled by the presence of Trump supporters, one armed, demonstrating noisily outside Bowers' home.^[20]

• Presidential Citizens Medal, 2023^[23]