Kelli Ward

Kelli Ward
Member of the Arizona Senate from the 5th district
In office January 14, 2013 – December 15, 2015
Preceded by	Ron Gould
Personal details
Born	Kelli Kaznoski (1969-01-25) January 25, 1969 Fairmont, West Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Duke University West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine A.T. Still University, Arizona
Website	Official website

Kelli Ward^[1] (née Kaznoski; January 25, 1969) is an American politician and physician. Ward was elected in 2012 to serve in the Arizona State Senate representing the fifth legislative district as a member of the Republican Party. While serving in office, she continued to practice medicine in the emergency department in Lake Havasu City and Kingman, Arizona.

Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, Ward is a graduate of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Duke University, and A.T. Still University, earning her degree in psychology, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, and public health, respectively. While in medical school, she met her husband Michael who served in the Arizona Air National Guard.

In 2012, Ward entered politics by running for a seat in the Arizona State Senate, and was unopposed for reelection in 2014. On July 14, 2015, she announced her candidacy for the United States Senate, challenging incumbent U.S. Senator John McCain in the Republican primary in the 2016 election.^[2] On December 2, 2015, Ward announced her resignation from the State Senate in order to focus her efforts on the U.S. Senate race.^[3]

Education

Ward earned her BS in psychology from Duke University, her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, and her master's degree in public health from A.T. Still University.

Political career

When Republican Senator Ron Gould left the Legislature and left the District 5 seat open, Ward won the three-way August 28, 2012 Republican primary in a highly contested election with 9,925 votes (42.2%,) in a field which included State Representative Nancy McLain;^[4] and won the November 6, 2012 general election with 49,613 votes (71.2%) against Democratic nominee Beth Weiser,^[5] who had run for a Senate seat in 2010.

Ward ran for re-election in 2014, winning unopposed in both the primary and the general election.

In January 2014, Sen. Ward introduced the Arizona Fourth Amendment Protection Act, which would "ban the state from engaging in activities which help the NSA carry out their warrantless data-collection programs, or even make use of the information on a local level."^[6][7] In 2014, she was the sole vote in the entire Arizona State Legislature against funding for the Department of Child Safety.^[8] Ward told radio station KNTR that she voted against the funding because there were "no benchmarks or expectations of the new department, just hundreds of millions of dollars being allocated with no accountability.

United States Senate campaign

On July 14, 2015, State Senator Ward announced she would be entering the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Arizona, against long-time incumbent John McCain, who is viewed by many political analysts as a top target of the Tea Party movement and by other Republican conservatives. On December 2, 2015, Ward announced she would resigning from the Arizona State Senate, effective December 15, in order to dedicate her time to running for the U.S. Senate.

Controversies

Support of Cliven Bundy

On April 15, 2014, Ward traveled to Mesquite, Nevada to support Cliven Bundy in his standoff with the Bureau of Land Management.^[9][10][11] Most other former supporters of Bundy had already condemned him for his racist remarks against Mexicans and African Americans.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17]}

Defense of Donald Sterling

Ward also defended disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned from the NBA for life and fined $2.5 million by the league after private recordings of him making racist comments were made public.^[18] Ward stated that he had a right to free speech under the first amendment, and should not have lost his ownership of the team.^[19][20]

Chemtrails conspiracy

On June 25, 2014, Ward, in response to concerns from a vocal minority, held a town hall meeting in Kingman, Arizona, part of the district she represents, to have an exchange about environmental quality, but also discussed the Chemtrail conspiracy theory. ^[21] Ward also brought in a spokesperson from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to answer questions on soil and water quality, including questions concerning the Chemtrail theory. She was quoted after the meeting saying, "I'm not sure there's anything that Arizona can do, but it's good to get the information out." ^[22] Ward told KNTR radio on June 27, 2014 that although she doesn't "believe in Chemtrails" herself, it's her "responsibility to address the concerns" of the varied groups of her constituents and "a town hall made sense." Ward, however, also stated in an interview in March 2015, "I don't really have any opinions about 'chemtrails' one way or the other. I think that environmental quality, though, is very important." ^[23] In April, 2015, Ward re-stated she did not believe in "chemtrails."^[24]

References

External links

• Official page at the Arizona State Legislature
• Campaign site
• Profile at Project Vote Smart