Liz Harris

Liz Harris is an American politician and real estate agent from Arizona who serves as the Arizona Republican National Committee National Committeewoman. A member of the Republican Party, she served in the Arizona House of Representatives representing the 13th district from January to April 2023. Her legislative career was marked by her role as a key vote in the Republicans' slim majority and her focus on election-related legislation.

Following the 2020 United States presidential election, Harris became a prominent figure in efforts to challenge and overturn the election results in Arizona. She led a controversial door-to-door canvassing effort that drew scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice over potential voter intimidation and was a frequent speaker at conferences promoting election-related conspiracy theories. She has been frequently linked to the QAnon movement and has hosted prominent figures within that community on her platforms. On February 23, 2023, Harris invited Jacqueline Breger, a constituent, to testify before Arizona's Joint Senate/House Election Hearing to Strengthen and Increase Confidence in Arizona's 2024 Elections. Breger testified about counties having alleged backdoor portals in their computer systems, which weakened the integrity of the elections. She further elaborated on allegations of other corruption that resulted in the eventual expulsion of Harris.

Following an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which found that Harris had been "dishonest" and had "damaged the integrity of the House" regarding her prior knowledge of the testimony, she was expelled from the legislature in April 2023 by a bipartisan 46–13 vote. Despite her expulsion, she remained active in party politics and was elected as an RNC National Committeewoman in 2024.

QAnon affiliation

Harris, a real estate agent, Harris has also maintained significant personal and professional ties to central figures within the QAnon community. When Ron Watkins—a former operator of the imageboard 8chan and a man widely suspected of being the "Q" persona—moved from Japan to Arizona in 2021, he registered to vote using a residential address belonging to a property owned by Harris.

In May 2021, Harris claimed in a video on a QAnon affiliated podcast that her efforts were part of "good versus evil" and that efforts in Arizona would lead to revelations of nationwide election fraud. At the time while QAnon community leaders General Micheal Flynn and Jason Sullivan were staging events using the domino brand, every day on her podcast Harris held up a sign with the QAnon brand quote, "May Arizona be the first domino to fall."

In April 2023, after expulsion from the Arizona House for lying during an ethics committee investigation, Harris became an even bigger hero to some in the QAnon online community who touted her expulsion as proof she was right about her conspiracies. Kari Lake, a prominent supporter of Harris, told Steve Bannon on the War Room, “All they've done is make her an icon now. She's going to be an icon. If they think they've made her lose power, I think Liz Harris is going to gain power from this move.” As of 2023, Harris and Steele continue to claim that House Speaker Ben Toma, who sought Harris's expulsion from the Legislature, held a bonfire at Toma's home to destroy evidence of his involvement in an unsubstantiated bribery scandal. Thaler, who has an arrest warrant for multiple domestic violence offenses against his ex-wife, made similar claims accusing his ex-wife of participating in a bribery and fraud scheme in multiple failed lawsuits against both his ex-wife and mother-in-law.

Attempts to overturn the 2020 election

Harris has been a leading proponent of efforts in Arizona to overturn the 2020 election. Harris testified at a public panel put together by a group of legislative associates of Harris, including Kelly Townsend, Sonny Borelli, and Mark Finchem after the then House Speaker Rusty Bowers refused to allow the group a formal session to amplify Harris's claims of widespread election fraud. During that hearing held on November 30, 2020, Harris testified she had been conducting a canvass and identified illegitimate voters, asking that legislators exercise their power and pull back the Biden electors.

Harris created a website "Crime of the Century" as part of her efforts to spread and promote disinformation about the 2020 election. 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.

Post 2020 controversial canvass effort

Harris led a controversial canvassing effort with then House Rep. Kelly Townsend following the 2020 election with multiple inaccuracies that were debunked within minutes following the 2020 election. Harris did not stop continuing with her canvass effort and months later issued her canvass report of findings which AP reported as "nonsensical."

2020 and 2022 campaigns for state legislature

In 2020, Harris unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Arizona legislature. a district covering portions of the Phoenix suburbs, specifically south Chandler, west Gilbert, and Sun Lakes in the East Valley.

In the November 2022 election, Harris (along with Democratic Representative Jennifer Pawlik) was elected to the state House from the two-seat 13th District. 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.

2020 and 2022 election denialism

Harris espouses election denialism. 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.

Arizona legislative career

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.

Although a first-term representative, Harris's vote was important to the Republicans' one-vote majority in the House. (Republicans hold 31 seats, and Democrats 29 seats.)

2023 hearing

In February 2023, Harris invited Jacqueline Breger, a Scottsdale insurance agent, to testify before a joint hearing of Republican-controlled House and Senate elections committees. Breger claimed that Governor Katie Hobbs, several members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, a dozen Maricopa County Superior Court judges, and the mayor of Mesa had all taken bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel through a housing deed scam as part of a vast money laundering, racketeering, and election fraud scheme. which had become increasingly bizarre over time. After Harris was expelled, one of her canvassers Steve Steele sought her vacant position

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. Wright met and worked with Harris and Recorder Stephen Richer following the 2018 election looking into claims of election irregularities.