Kenneth Roy Bennett (born August 1, 1959) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was a member of the

Arizona Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...

from 2023 to 2025. He previously was a member of the state Senate from 1999 to 2007, and president of the state Senate from 2003 to 2007. He was

Secretary of State of Arizona The secretary of state of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, the secretary stands first in the line of succession to the governorship. The secretary also serves as act ...

from 2009 to 2015. He unsuccessfully ran for

governor of Arizona A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2018 elections The following elections occurred in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general election 7 and 31 ...

Early life

Ken Bennett was born in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. His parents moved to

Prescott Prescott may refer to: People Given name * Prescott E. Bloom, American lawyer and politician * Prescott Bush, American banker and politician * Samuel Prescott Bush, American industrialist * Prescott F. Hall, American lawyer, author and eugenicist ...

shortly thereafter, where he was raised and later graduated from Prescott High School. Upon graduation, Bennett served a two-year

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

in southern Japan, and remains an active member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. In 1981, he graduated from

Yavapai College Yavapai College is a public community college in Yavapai County, Arizona. The main campus is in Prescott, with locations in Clarkdale, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Sedona. History Yavapai College was established in 1965 by means of a ...

under the President's Scholarship. He then transferred to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

(ASU) in Tempe, graduating with

Bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...

in Accounting.Linda Bentley
Field of six vying for governor in Republican Primary
'' Sonoran News'', August 6, 2014

Business career

Bennett began work for Bennett Oil Company, a fuel distribution business in northern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, in 1984. Initially working in finance, Bennett eventually inherited the position of chief executive officer, where he remained until 2006. In addition, he sits on the board of directors for Global Building Systems Inc., a sustainable building systems company, as well as Treasurer on the board of directors of

Cancer Treatment Centers of America Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, was a national, for-profit network of five comprehensive cancer care and research centers and three outpatient care centers that served cancer patients throughout ...

Political career

Bennett is an active member of Arizona Tea Party groups and regularly attends Tea Party events and meetings. Bennett was elected to the Prescott City Council in 1985 and served as Mayor

Pro Tem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to 'for the time being' in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a '' locum tenens'' ('placeholder'). The phrase is ...

in 1988. He served on the City Council until 1989. He was appointed to the Arizona State

Board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

in 1992, serving as president in 1996 and 1998. In 1998, he was elected to the

Arizona State Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...

, serving four two-year terms, the second as Chairman of the Education Committee, and the third and fourth as

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

(2003–2007). When

Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015, as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Prior to this, Brewer ...

ascended from

Arizona Secretary of State The secretary of state of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a Lieutenant governor (United States), lieutenant governor, the secretary stands first in the Gubernatorial lines of succession in ...

to governor upon

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...

's resignation to become

United States Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the ...

, Bennett was selected as the new secretary of state, being sworn in on January 26, 2009. Upon completing that term, Bennett won election to a full term as secretary of state in the November 2010 with 59% of the vote.

Contest of Obama's 2008 Election Qualifications and 2012 Attempt to Restrict Ballot Access

In 2012, as secretary of state, Bennett denied being a "

birther During Barack Obama's campaign for president in 2008, throughout his presidency and afterwards, there was extensive news coverage of Obama's religious preference, birthplace, and of the individuals questioning his religious belief and citiz ...

" (a conspiracy theorist who believed that President Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen), but nonetheless made national news when he requested Obama's birth certificate from the state of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

as a prerequisite to listing Obama on that year's presidential ballot.Rachel Weiner
Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett satisfied Obama was born in United States
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', May 23, 2012 Bennett said he had made at the "request of numerous constituents"; after Hawaii provided the verification, Bennett said he accepted that Obama was born in the United States.

2014 Governor's Race

Bennett officially announced his intention to run for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

on November 12, 2013. Bennett came in fourth in the six-way Republican primary, gaining 11.45% of the vote and losing to

Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey ( ; ; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who served as the 23rd List of governors of Arizona, governor of Arizona from 2015 to 2023 and as State Treas ...

2016 Congress Run

In 2015, Bennett announced his intention to run for Congress in Arizona's 1st Congressional district. He was endorsed by the

Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

. On August 30, 2016, he lost the Republican primary to Sheriff

Paul Babeu Paul Raymond Babeu (pronounced ''BAB-you''; born February 3, 1969) is an American law enforcement officer, politician and member of the Republican Party who was sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, from January 1, 2009, to January 1, 2017. He was P ...

2021 Senate Liaison to Arizona Audit

In 2021, the Arizona state senate controlled by Republicans provided $150,000 for funding an audit of the 2020 election presidential results in

Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...

, with Bennett becoming a liaison between the contractors performing the audit, the state, and the county.Arizona Review of 2020 Vote Is Riddled With Flaws, Says Secretary of State
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Michael Wines, May 6, 2021, updated May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021. In late July 2021, it was reported that Bennett had been "banned from entering the building where the recount process is ongoing, after he shared some data with experts that showed the results match the officially certified numbers in Maricopa County". Bennett's January 6 "Political Prisoner" advocacy organization also held events, titled “What Happened at the Audit: A Town Hall Series with Ken Bennett,” aimed at “giving the public a chance to directly question one of the central figures in the Arizona Audit,” according to a press announcement from the organization, held at Scottsdale Studios owned by j

January 6 "Political Prisoner" Advocacy Organization

Bennett served as a chairman for the Look Ahead Group that advocates for January 6th "political prisoners," with

Matt Braynard Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

who briefly worked on the data team for former president Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, and Julie Fisher, who worked on Trump's campaign in 2020.

Personal life

He met his wife Jeanne at ASU, and the two were married in 1982. They have three grown children – Ryan, Dana and Clifton – and two grandsons.

Legal troubles involving son

In 2005, Clifton, along with two others, were arrested and accused of "brooming" 18 middle-school aged boys in the

buttocks The buttocks (: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed of a lay ...

area while they were clothed. Witness reports on the "brooming" incidents ranged from the use of brooms to touch the boys' rectal areas, to holding one boy down while shoving a broomstick against his buttocks. As part of a plea deal that Clifton accepted in 2006, he was sentenced to spend 30 days in jail, in addition to probation and community service. Despite claims by the parents of some of the victims that the incidents constituted

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

, prosecutors argued instead that the crimes were not sexually motivated, which a trial judge agreed. Parents of some of the victims have criticized the outcome, decrying what they perceive as a lenient sentence and suggesting that a plea deal was done because of Bennett's political status as president of the state senate. Both Bennett and the prosecutor have denied allegations of political pressure in the case, with Bennett going as far as accusing critics of knowingly making false statements due to what he claims as a lack of evidence on him attempting to sway the case.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Ken 1959 births Living people 20th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in Japan Arizona city council members Republican Party Arizona state senators Candidates in the 2014 United States elections Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Latter Day Saints from Arizona Politicians from Prescott, Arizona Politicians from Tucson, Arizona Presidents of the Arizona Senate Secretaries of state of Arizona W. P. Carey School of Business alumni 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature