Are You Ready for Secretary of State Mark Finchem?

It seems Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem (R-LD11) just can’t seem to keep out of the news. His name keeps coming up concerning the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

He’s a one-time member of the Oath Keepers, which the FBI describes as a “loosely organized collection of the militia who believe that the federal government has been co-opted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.”

So far, 19 Oath Keepers have been indicted in a case that charges they conspired to breach the U.S. Capitol on January 6, with prosecutors saying that more could be prosecuted in the future.

Damning videos

A video emerged showing that Finchem had lied when he said in January he was no closer than 500 yards (.28 of a mile) to the Capitol during the insurrection on January 6. He was much closer.

In another video that emerged this week, Finchem echoes QAnon talking points about powerful pedophile networks, something he has not generally talked about in public. The video was unearthed by a group called “sedition hunters,” who collaborate to use publicly available video and images to identify people who committed crimes at the Capitol on January 6.

In the days after January 6, Finchem said he never entered the Capitol or committed any crimes. And on January 9, in a text message, he said, “The closest I ever got to the Capitol building was about 500 yards away.” In later interviews, he said “300 to 500 yards.”  But the video, spotted online by a person who goes by the nickname “Common D’Mominator” on Twitter, shows Finchem walking through a crowd roughly 100 yards (.05 of a mile) from the east Capitol steps.

In an interview with a Christian network Victory Channel on March 4, Finchem said, “We’ve got a serious problem in this nation, and that’s one of the things that disturbs me so much about our current congressional state of affairs. There are a lot of people involved in a pedophile network and the distribution of children. And that makes me sick.”

Governor Finchem?

Rep. Finchem, not being content with representing LD11, now wants to run for Secretary of State to oversee Arizona elections and possibly overturn elections that he thinks are unfair.

If that’s not a red flag for Arizona, then consider that in Arizona, the Secretary of State is first in line to succeed the governor in the event of death, disability, resignation, or removal from office. Twice in the past 20 years, the Arizona Secretary of State has replaced a sitting Governor of Arizona.

• Jane Hall replaced Gov. Fife Symington after he resigned from office following a conviction on charges of extortion and bank fraud.
• Jan Brewer replaced Governor Janet Napolitano after she resigned to become Secretary of Homeland Security.

On top of this, Rep. Finchem is now facing a recall election in LD11. Having Rep. Finchem as Arizona Secretary of State is scary enough, but Governor Finchem is downright frightening.