Mark Finchem

Mark W. Finchem[1] is an American politician, and a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing District 11 since January 5, 2015. Finchem is a member of several far-right fringe organizations.[2][3] He is the Arizona Coordinator for the Coalition of Western States, an organization that opposes the activities of the Bureau of Land Management and supported the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.[4] Finchem is also a member of the militia group Oath Keepers.[2]

Mark Finchem
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives
from the 11th[1] district
Assumed office
January 5, 2015
Serving with Bret Roberts
Preceded byAdam Kwasman
Personal details
BornDetroit, Michigan, US
Political partyRepublican
Children3
ResidenceTucson, Arizona
Alma materKalamazoo Valley Community College
ProfessionFirefighter, police officer, real estate broker
Websitevotefinchem.com

Background

Finchen was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan.[1] After graduating high school he worked as a firefighter, then a police officer in Kalamazoo, retiring in 1999.[5] He lived in Delton, Michigan, where he also worked as a rancher.[1] He then moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he worked for the business and financial software company Intuit before becoming a real estate broker.[1]

Arizona House of Representatives

In 2016, Finchem introduced legislation that would prohibit Arizona from implementing presidential executive orders, directives issued by federal agencies and U.S. Supreme Court rulings.[2] In 2019 he introduced a bill to create a code of ethics for teachers which consisted primarily of text from a report published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center.[2] He also sponsored in 2019 a bill that would seek to transfer management of federal lands in Arizona to the state government.[2]

As of 2021, Finchem is a member of the House of Representatives' committees on the Judiciary, on Military Affairs & Public Safety, and on Natural Resources, Energy & Water.[1]

Coalition of Western States

As of 2016, Finchem was Arizona Coordinator of the Coalition of Western States (COWS), a group founded by Washington state representative Matt Shea in 2014 to support Cliven Bundy and his family in their confrontation with law enforcement, which also supported the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.[4] Mark Pitcavage of the Anti-Defamation League described COWS as motivated by "anti-government extremism and anti-public lands extremism", and said that Finchem's membership indicated he shared extremist views.[4]

Response to the 2020 presidential election

Finchem was outspoken following the 2020 Presidential election and called for the Arizona legislature to appoint presidential electors of its own choosing. It was later revealed that a business affiliated with Finchem, Mrk Finchem PLLC”, received $6,037 from the Trump reelection campaign. Finchem said the payment was for security costs related to his meeting with Rudy Giuliani. [6]

2021 storming of the United States Capitol

Finchem traveled to Washington, D.C. to take part in the January 6, 2021 protests of the 2020 presidential election results, claiming "substantial evidence that this election was a fraud" and tweeted pictures of the protestors massed on the steps of the Capitol building.[7] Finchem later claimed without evidence that leftists had instigated the violence.[8]

A coalition of community organizations subsequently called for the expulsion of Finchem and six other Arizona Republican lawmakers who publicly advocated overturning the 2020 election.[7][9] In response to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) briefing that said antifa groups were not involved in the attack on the Capitol, Finchem said he did not "trust a word that comes out of the FBI's mouth".[10]

Political views

In 2013 Finchem argued that Barack Obama was seeking to establish a "totalitarian dictatorship."[2]

In 2017 Finchem described the white supremacist Unite the Right rally as a "deep state psyop" carried about by Democrats.[2]

Elections
2014

Finchem finished second in the Republican primary behind Vince Leach and ahead of Jo Grant.

Finchem and Leach ran successfully in the general election. Finchem came in first with 36,732 votes, ahead of Leach and Democratic challenger Holly Lyon.[11]

2016

Finchem and Leach defeated Democrats Corin Hammond and Barry Mccain (write-in candidate) in the general election.[12]

References
  1. "Mark Finchem". Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  2. Flaherty, Joseph (March 22, 2019). "From Charlottesville to Oath Keepers, Rep. Mark Finchem Is a Fringe Lawmaker". Phoenix New Times.
  3. Marans, Daniel (October 22, 2018). "GOP State Lawmakers Pal Around With White Supremacists. Party Group Backs Them Anyway". HuffPost.
  4. Kelety, Josh (October 1, 2020). "Rep. Mark Finchem Worked With Anti-Government Extremists, Emails Show". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  5. Devereaux, Brad (January 11, 2021). "Lawmaker, former Kalamazoo policeman tweets #stopthesteal from violent riot at U.S. Capitol". mlive. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  6. Oxford, Andrew (February 6, 2021). "Trump campaign paid Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem $6,000 during effort to overturn election results". Arizona Republic. Arizona. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  7. Waltz, Adam (January 8, 2021). "Seven Arizonan Republican legislators face calls to ban them from the House and Senate". KNXV. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  8. Oxford, Andrew (January 7, 2021). "Among some in Arizona GOP, siege of the US Capitol was everyone's fault except Trump". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  9. "Organizations call for expulsion of several Arizona GOP lawmakers". KTAR-FM. January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  10. Siders, David (January 13, 2021). "Capitol riot fueled by deep network of GOP statehouse support". Politico. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  11. "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2014 General Election November 4, 2014" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 9. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  12. "Arizona Secretary of State Election Night Reporting". Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved March 16, 2020.


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