58 Facts About Kelly Townsend

Kelly Townsend was born on September 27,1968 and is an American author, childbirth educator, birth doula, and former Republican politician.

Kelly Townsend was a member of the Arizona Senate representing District 16 from 2021 to 2023, and previously was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021, acting as Majority Whip from 2017 to 2018.

Kelly Townsend received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and small business from Arizona State University.

Kelly Townsend was trained as a birth doula in 1992 and a childbirth educator in 1993.

Kelly Townsend is the author of Christ Centered Childbirth, a guide to help young parents draw upon their faith to help bring their child into the world.

In 2010, Kelly Townsend was a member of the Greater Phoenix Tea Party.

Kelly Townsend first ran for the Arizona House of Representatives in a six-way Republican primary in District 22, placing fourth with 5,446 votes.

Kelly Townsend won the second seat with 40,720 votes in the five-way general election against Democratic nominee Matthew Cerra, Arizona Green Party candidate Bill Maher, and Democratic write-in candidate Cara Prior.

Kelly Townsend has been a longstanding member of the Oath Keepers.

In June 2020, Kelly Townsend posted a QAnon video with a flaming "Q" to her social media and followed high-profile QAnon accounts.

In 2010, Kelly Townsend attended a presentation at which Russian-born attorney Orly Taitz spoke about "rigged" voting machines and voter fraud, as well as her doubts about Obama's eligibility for the presidency, and Kelly Townsend discussed the Asch conformity experiments in the context of Obama birther theories.

The day after Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani presented allegations of election fraud, Kelly Townsend requested the Attorney General's office election integrity unit investigate all allegations presented by Giuliani.

In February 2020, Kelly Townsend sponsored a bill which she said would combat voter fraud.

Kelly Townsend's bill expanded law enforcement powers allowing law enforcement or agents of the Attorney Generals office election integrity unit to enter a polling place during the vote count to investigate voter fraud.

Kelly Townsend led her supporters in criticism of House Speaker Rusty Bowers for his refusal to allow her and her colleagues to call a formal legislative session to recall the State's electors.

Kelly Townsend wanted a hearing to exercise her subpoena power as House Elections Chair to access voting machines.

On November 4,2020, after a video was published of a woman claiming her vote was not counted due to the voting center requiring the use of Sharpies, Kelly Townsend took to her social media asking others with Sharpie experiences to come forward.

In December 2020, Kelly Townsend reportedly expressed concern to Giuliani that unless they had a pending legal case, their attempts to promote the alternate elector scheme might appear treasonous.

Kelly Townsend proposed legislation to establish criminal penalties for election workers who misplace ballots, and contractors that fail to meet the terms of the contract.

Kelly Townsend made public demands for law enforcement investigations of election workers, including for simple mistakes.

Kelly Townsend supported legislation that would require voters in Arizona who vote by mail to include identification paperwork along with their ballots.

The day before the attack on the US Capitol, Kelly Townsend sponsored a bill to recall Arizona's electors that had been allocated to Biden and replace them with Trump electors.

In February 2022, Kelly Townsend proposed legislation requiring monthly reviews of the electoral roll and the prompt removal of felons from them, as well as prohibition of same-day voter registrations.

Also in February 2022, Kelly Townsend said as part of a failed attempt to ban voting machines, that a return to the voting practices of "our parents" would improve the system.

In March 2022, Kelly Townsend issued additional subpoenas to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and publicly accused them of obstruction due to their non-compliance.

In May 2022, after a Senate presentation by True the Vote, Kelly Townsend called on supporters to monitor ballot drop boxes used for early voting in the 2022 elections for indications of electoral fraud.

In June 2022, Kelly Townsend received an FBI subpoena for emails and text messages relating to the Arizona Senate's examination of electoral fraud issues.

In July 2022, Kelly Townsend told the Washington Post in an interview that she had one or two phone calls with Giuliani in December 2020 but no longer has the phone on which those calls were made.

Kelly Townsend said she has described the nature of the calls to the FBI.

At the meeting, Kelly Townsend told the Board of Supervisors they needed to halt certification and re-run the 2022 primary election citing continued claims of election malfeasance and chain of custody issues.

Kelly Townsend filed a lawsuit for an injunction to halt the Pinal County ballot count which was denied on August 12,2022.

In November 2022, Kelly Townsend issued a subpoena for midterm election administration records in Maricopa County which the County rejected.

In 2019, Kelly Townsend recognized the effect of inciting a crowd toward a fellow lawmaker, "When someone of authority incites mental warfare or otherwise, those out in the community who may or may not be stable will take that to heart and do it, and maybe take it to another level," she said.

In December 2020, Kelly Townsend tweeted the home address and phone number of Rusty Bowers, which prompted her support groups to protest outside his home.

Kelly Townsend stated she had a donor willing to pay $500K to support the recall.

America Restored, a group Kelly Townsend is closely allied with, funded the attempted recall.

On December 4,2020, when Kelly Townsend insisted the State send alternate electors as part of a bid to overturn the election, Bowers rejected such a proposal.

Kelly Townsend alleged Bowers did not understand constitutional law, and was quoted as tweeting, "It is imperative that Arizona's legislators use our Article 2 power and choose the electors after everything we have seen here," Kelly Townsend wrote on Twitter in the afternoon.

In 2015, Kelly Townsend led a group of parents aggrieved by the child welfare system which they allege wrongfully removed their children from the home.

In 2017, Kelly Townsend sponsored a bill to prohibit child welfare workers from lying in hearings or withholding exculpatory evidence.

Kelly Townsend spoke out defending anti-vax parents whose child with a fever was removed based on allegations of medical neglect.

In 2019, Judge Timothy Ryan ordered Kelly Townsend removed from his court as she publicly criticized the Court's decision regarding a child welfare case and rules surrounding the confidentiality of CPS hearings designed to protect the child.

In 2018, Kelly Townsend supported protestors at a rally outside a school for a student who stated he was bullied for wearing Trump attire.

Kelly Townsend encouraged "vigilantes" to stake out ballot drop boxes and obtain license plates of votes after a presentation by True the Vote alleging ballot boxes were illegally stuffed with fraudulent votes, prompting concerns of voter intimidation.

Kelly Townsend opposed mask mandates and vowed not to wear a mask while working at the Arizona Capitol.

Kelly Townsend opposed mask use in schools and led anti-mask protests at school board meetings.

Kelly Townsend served as a Chairperson for ALEC's Article V agenda and has been a staunch supporter of holding a constitutional convention to amend the constitution to mandate a balanced budget amendment.

Kelly Townsend characterized the Federal government's response as reminiscent of Tiananmen Square.

Kelly Townsend subsequently won both the Republican Party primary and the general election, both with 39 percent of the vote.

In 2018 Kelly Townsend criticized semi-nude female women's rights activists, abortion and the "culture of death", the Arizona child welfare system, the furry community and opposed increased funding for education.

Kelly Townsend supported parents protesting against local school boards, arguing that the National School Board Association and Federal Bureau of Investigation were attacking parents' rights.

Kelly Townsend supported legislation that would prohibit the teaching of critical race theory in schools.

The Anti-Defamation League urged Kelly Townsend to retract a post of a Nazi symbol she posted to social media as a political statement regarding mask use.

In 2005, Kelly Townsend wrote a book Christ Centered Childbirth, and has been a longstanding anti-abortion activist.

In 2009, three years before taking office, Townsend was an activist in the Walk for Life marches whose primary goal was to overturn Roe v Wade.

In 2019, Kelly Townsend made headlines posting a photo of herself with a teardrop symbol in support of an anti-abortion bill alleging that allowing aborted babies to die after an abortion is infanticide.

In 2022, Kelly Townsend said she gave up the Congress race and a much coveted Trump endorsement to fight Wendy Rogers for an Arizona Senate seat.

Kelly Townsend was married to pilot Daniel Kelly Townsend, who died in a helicopter crash in 2009.