Arizona GOP Senator Anthony Kern is recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident while visiting friends and family in South Dakota, according to Kim Quintero, communications director for the Arizona Senate Republicans.
The incident occurred during a snowstorm when Kern’s vehicle lost control on an icy road. Both Kern and the driver were hospitalized with injuries, including broken bones, but are expected to make a full recovery. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.
Senate President Warren Petersen expressed his support, saying, “Senator Kern is tough and a fighter. Thousands of people are praying for his recovery, especially during this holiday season.”
The Arizona Senate Democrats also offered their well wishes on social media, stating, “Sending our well wishes to Senator Anthony Kern and praying for a complete and speedy recovery.”
Kern, who has represented District 27 since 2023, is nearing the end of his term in January after choosing not to run for re-election. He will return to Arizona once discharged from the hospital.
Kern sponsored a proposed amendment to Arizona’s election laws approved by the state Senate Committee on Elections in 2023 that would require that voting machines be made entirely of components sourced in the United States.
Maricopa County, where 60 percent of Arizona’s voters live, uses Dominion Voting Systems, while nearly all the other counties in the state use Election Systems & Software.
Both Dominion and ES&S voting equipment includes components from Dell, which sources many of its microchips from China and Taiwan.
The resolution stated that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2017 designated election infrastructure as “critical infrastructure.“
In light of this, Republican senators said that Arizona should follow the Department of Defense policy of requiring the supply chain for the machines to be sourced in the U.S.
