PHOENIX — The Arizona Senate voted Tuesday to censure GOP Sen. Wendy Rogers for making threatening statements that called for the execution of her political enemies.
In a 24-3 vote, state senators took the rare step of censuring one of their own for Rogers' recent controversial comments. Several Republicans sided with Democrats to censure Rogers for "unbecoming" conduct that has damaged the Senate's reputation.
Rogers said the censure was an attempt by her colleagues to limit her freedom of speech rights.
"I do not apologize. I will not back down," Rogers said Tuesday.
Republican senators Warren Petersen and Nancy Barto were the only GOP members of the Senate to not vote in favor of censuring Rogers. Three senators were not present for Tuesday's vote.
Rogers has come under pressure from other Republicans after she spoke at the America First Political Action Conference last Friday and said the group's traitors should be hanged on a "newly built set of gallows."
Rogers, a four-time failed candidate for federal office, also praised the leader of AFPAC, Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier.
Republican leaders like Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates have publicly condemned Rogers' rhetoric, stating that she does "not represent American values or interests."
In recent days, she's repeated anti-Semitic dog whistles praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and putting down Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish.
The AFPAC appearance put her views in the national spotlight, at a time when Republican leaders are trying to tamp down their own officeholders' and former President Trump's messages praising Putin.
Some Democrats said censure was insufficient and called for expelling Rogers from the chamber.
Gov. Doug Ducey, whose political action committee donated $500,000 to get Rogers elected in 2020, said Tuesday he supported the Senate's censure vote.
“I strongly believe our public policy debates should be about creating opportunity for all and making our state a better place, not denigrating and insulting any individual or group," Ducey said in a statement, "I believe the vote taken today by the Arizona Senate sends a clear message: rhetoric like this is unacceptable."
Arizona Politics
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