Liz Harris (Arizona politician)

Harris, a real estate agent,[1][2] is a longtime promoter of QAnon conspiracies.[2][3] Harris repeatedly spread QAnon messaging beginning in 2018 and when QAnon message board operator Ron Watkins moved to Arizona in 2021 from Japan to run for Congress in the 2022 midterm election, Watkins listed property owned by Harris as his residential address on his voter registration.[4][5]

Steele, along with Harris and fellow canvasser Earl Shafer who found shredded ballots in a dumpster behind the election center claimed along with Harris, without proof, that the ballots had been burned as part of a cover-up conspiracy involving a fire at Supervisor Clint Hickman's farm. Harris and Steele continue to claim that House leader Toma, who sought Harris's expulsion. had a bonfire at his home burning evidence of his involvement in the conspiracy as part of an alleged cover-up. [6]

Harris invited Jacqueline Breger to a Joint Legislative Hearing to amplify and spread conspiracies in which Breger relied on an upcoming book by her boyfriend John Thaler, who made similar claims in multiple failed lawsuits against his ex-wife and mother-in-law.[7][3][8] Before the hearing, two judges had dismissed Thaler's claims as an elaborate fiction;[8] a federal court had called it a "delusional and fantastical narrative."[3] Emails subsequently obtained by the Arizona Republic showed that Harris knew about the details of the fake scandal before inviting Breger to testify, and that Harris did not disclose her knowledge to state Senate staffers who sought details of the presentation.[8]

Harris created a website "Crime of the Century" as part of her efforts to spread and promote disinformation about the 2020 election. [9] As part of the effort, she repeatedly made false claims regarding the results of her canvassing efforts which were touted by the U.S. Department of Justice as a form of voter suppression. [10]

In 2020, Harris unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Arizona legislature.[2]

In 2022, Harris campaigned for election to the state House from Arizona's 13th Legislative District,[11] a district covering portions of the Phoenix suburbs,[12] specifically south Chandler, west Gilbert, and Sun Lakes[13] in the East Valley.[14]

In the November 2022 election, Harris (along with Democratic Representative Jennifer Pawlik) was elected to the state House from the two-seat 13th District.[15] Harris defeated fellow Republican Julie Willoughby by 275 votes after an automatic recount, in which Harris had a net gain of five votes, concluded in December 2022.[12][16]

Harris espouses election denialism.[2][11] After Donald Trump lost Arizona in the 2020 presidential election, Harris promoted unsupported claims that the election was "stolen" from Trump. She led a door-to-door canvassing campaign in a bid to find supposed "election fraud" and released a report (possibly debunked by election experts) claiming fraud.[11][17] The Arizona Attorney General's office, then led by Republican attorney general Mark Brnovich, assigned 60 staffers to investigate the 2020 election; after spending 10,000 hours investigating, no evidence of fraud was found.[3] Harris's door-to-door canvassing effort drew scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division on concerns of potential voter intimidation.[17] Harris claimed in a May 2021 video that her efforts were part of "good versus evil" and that efforts in Arizona would lead to revelations of nationwide election fraud.[18]

In September 2022, Harris spoke at a national conspiracist conference hosted by Mike Lindell, a businessman who had urged Trump to declare martial law to remain in power; Lindell asserted that the summit would be "one of the most important events in history."[11] At the event, Harris promoted claims of election fraud, and claimed that her allies were being persecuted.[11]

After her election, Harris baselessly claimed that the 2022 Arizona elections, in which Republicans lost top statewide races, was marred by fraud. She threatened to refuse to cast any vote in the House until the election was redone.[14][19][11]

Upon taking office in January 2023, she introduced legislation that would ban both mail-in voting and in-person early voting, and make it easier to challenge election results in court.[20]

Although a first-term representative, Harris's vote was important to the Republicans' one-vote majority in the House.[21] (Republicans hold 31 seats, and Democrats 29 seats.)[20] In February 2023, Harris was the sole Republican to vote against a major Republican budget package, defeating the measure.[22]

On April 12, 2023, Harris was expelled from the legislature by a 46–13 vote for damaging "the integrity of the House," for lying to colleagues during a public hearing of the Ethics Committee. [24][25][7][26][27] After Harris was expelled, one of her canvassers Steve Steele sought her vacant position [6]

Steele, along with Harris and fellow canvasser Earl Shafer who found shredded ballots in a dumpster behind the election center claimed along with Harris, without proof, that the ballots had been burned as part of a cover-up conspiracy involving a fire at Supervisor Clint Hickman's farm. Harris and Steele continue to claim that House leader Toma, who sought Harris's expulsion. had a bonfire at his home burning evidence of his involvement in the conspiracy as part of an alleged cover-up. [6]

Although Harris claimed she did not know prior to the hearing in April 2023 that Breger was going to publicly impugn the character of fellow legislators, former AG's office attorney Jennifer Wright claimed Harris had lunch with her months earlier in January 2023 and at that time Harris discussed the alleged fraudulent deed scheme which Wright alleges she told Harris to go to law enforcement. [28] [29] Wright met and worked with Harris and Recorder Stephen Richer following the 2018 election looking into claims of election irregularities.[30]