False claims of support made by Republican candidate Wendy Rogers are raising concerns and the ire of voters in Legislative District 6. The issue is Rogers claiming to have received endorsements from supporters of her Republican primary opponent, State Senator Sylvia Allen.
Rogers is falsely claiming to have the endorsements of local leaders that include: Matt Hamilton, owner of Taylor Solar Exchange; Larry Titus, Principal of Snowflake High School, David Marshall, pastor of Snowflake Calvary Chapel, Snowflake City Council Gary Brimhall, and Mary Louise Flake wife of former State Senator Jake Flake.
Rogers has gone so far as to Photoshop images of these Allen supporters for her false endorsement claims:
For his part, Hamilton posted his response to Rogers’ Photoshopped image of him directly on her Facebook page:
Several months ago Wendy Rogers, a candidate for State Senator, came into my place of business in Taylor and sat and visited for a few minutes with my wife Karen and I.
She asked me if I would write a letter of endorsement for her. I said I would consider it. Upon further investigation I did not feel that I could write the letter and NEVER did.
I have never at any time expressed nor implied public support for Wendy.
A photograph of me was ripped from our business website and used to create an endorsement meme for her Facebook and Twitter pages.
I do not now nor will I ever grant permission to use my image nor my company name as endorsements for the candidacy of Wendy Rogers.
Matt Hamilton
July 1, 2020
One Legislative District 6 voter went further:
Just want to share that this is Sylvia Allen’s opponent. She has posted that these four men in our community have endorsed her. All four denied giving an endorsement or permission. She also lives in Tempe and is running in our district from a 2nd home in Flagstaff; which by the way she has both homes listed as Primary Residences. That is not honest or legal. They will catch up with her. Wendy is a 5-time loser, she’s never won a race. We need to support Republicans that can win… Sylvia is the winner here 🙂
Sandee McKinley
July 2, 2020
The Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), a popular gun-rights group with Republicans, sent out an email condemning Rogers’ tactics without naming her specifically:
While AzCDL appreciates the support of elected officials and candidates that support us through their AzCDL memberships and efforts at the Legislature, it has come to our attention that some candidates for public office are claiming that they are endorsed by AzCDL. Unfortunately, those statements are erroneous.
The Arizona Citizens Defense League does NOT endorse any candidate for public office, or get involved in any elections. We are no longer associated with any political action committee, and do NOT give our permission for any candidate, political committee, or other entity to use our name and logo for any purpose. Any claim of an endorsement from the AzCDL, or any use of our logo for such purposes, should be considered illegitimate, and subject to potential legal action.
The threatened legal action is in response to an image Rogers has posted on social media indicating that the group has endorsed her as well:
Last month, Rogers posted a list of endorsements on her website that included former Arizona Senator Jon Kyl and current Arizona Congresswoman Debbie Lesko. She showed them as current 2020 endorsements for her State Senate race but was forced to take down the false endorsements after receiving calls threatening legal action. They turned out to be 2018 endorsements from when Republican officials gave her their obligatory endorsement as the GOP’s nominee in CD1, a race Rogers got clobbered in by Democrat Tom O’Halleran.
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