Kelli Ward[1] (née Kaznoski; born January 25, 1969) is an American politician who served as the chair of the Arizona Republican Party from 2019 to 2023.

When she did this, she provided no evidence of wrongdoing in the election and by December 9, federal and state judges had dismissed all of her challenges against President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Arizona.

[4] Ward was indicted by a grand jury in April 2024 as an alleged fake elector that falsely certified Donald Trump as the winner of the presidential election in Arizona.

[7] Ward obtained a BS in psychology from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, in 1991; a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.)

[11] Ward won the November 6, 2012, general election with 49,613 votes (71.2%) against Democratic nominee Beth Weiser,[12] who had run for a Senate seat in 2010.

In January 2014, Ward introduced the Arizona Fourth Amendment Protection Act, which would "ban the state from engaging in activities which help the NSA carry out their warrantless data-collection programs, or even make use of the information on a local level.

[26] Arpaio and Ward were considered in contention for the same group of primary voters, as they are both highly conservative and staunchly pro-Trump, whereas McSally has a more moderate record.

[33] PolitiFact rated the claim that Ward "hosted a town hall on 'chemtrail conspiracy theories' and is open to sponsoring chemtrails legislation" as "mostly false,"[32] and factcheck.org labeled the ad "misleading.

[26] The primary was described as "contentious", with Ward refusing to say whether she would support McSally in the general election were she to win the Republican nomination.

[42] In June 2018, The Arizona Republic reported that Ward's ties to controversial and fringe conservative figures were undermining her campaign.

[43][44] Ward's husband, who was also a campaign surrogate, has promoted conspiracy theories about Seth Rich, Bill and Hillary Clinton murdering people, and John McCain cooperating with the Islamic State.

[45] In August 2018, Ward announced a campaign bus tour featuring Mike Cernovich, an alt-right media personality and conspiracy theorist.

[53] Two months after the election, a couple of party activists sued Ward over her refusal to conduct an audit of the results of her reelection.

[55] Early on election night 2020, the Associated Press and Fox News declared Biden the winner in Arizona as ballot counting continued.

She also asked the official to contact Trump attorney Sidney Powell, adding, "I know you don't want to be remembered as the guy who led the charge to certify a fraudulent election."

[4][65] As Trump and his allies attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election, on January 5, 2021, dozens of lawmakers from key states, including Arizona, asked Vice President Mike Pence to delay final certification of Biden's election for 10 days so that legislatures in those states could reconsider their earlier certifications.

[66] During the storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, which forced lawmakers to evacuate, Ward wrote on Twitter, "Congress is adjourned.

[74][75] Ward fought a January 6 committee subpoena of her phone records to the United States Supreme Court, which denied her challenge in November 2022.

On April 24, 2024, Ward was indicted by an Arizona grand jury for alleged involvement in the Trump fake electors plot.

She was charged along with seventeen other Arizona Republicans and Trump associates with engaging in a conspiracy aimed at "preventing the lawful transfer of the presidency of the United States.

"[79] According to the charging documents, Ward and the others schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to Joseph Biden by attempting to have the Arizona electoral votes be counted for Donald Trump.

[80] While studying osteopathic medicine, Ward met her husband Michael, who served in the Arizona Air National Guard.