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The Arizona Republican Senate president who oversaw the 2020 presidential election audit announced Monday she is retiring, the Associated Press reported.
Karen Fann saidthat national disapproval over the election investigation that found President Joe Biden victorious in Arizona did not factor into her decision.
"I did my job. I stepped up, served my country, served my people," Fann told AP. "It's time for somebody else to step up now."
"It has been a privilege to advocate on behalf of Arizona citizens in my twelve years at the State Legislature and the honor of a lifetime to serve as Senate President," Fann said in a statement.
When former President Donald Trump said he lost the election due to voter fraud, Fann fully embraced the investigation by requiring Maricopa County to turn over 2.1 million ballots, vote-counting machines and election services computers.
She even fought court battles to win access to the election department and handed them to Cyber Ninjas to review the results despite the company having no previous experience handling elections.
However, Fann ensured that she was only trying to show voters whether or not the election was securely run. Fann's critics believed her actions displayed distrust in the election process.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Fann spent decades building a successful company that focused on installing guardrails on state and local highways, and sold it earlier this year. She told AP last month that she was still considering whether to seek reelection and another term as Senate president.
"You have to remember, I started my business with $500," Fann said in an October 14 interview. "I have for 37 years built that business up, but it's still a small business. I only had 40 employees so it wasn't like anything big, so basically for small-business owners, that's our retirement."
She was long considered a workhorse Republican in the Legislature who took on difficult issues like how to regulate the emerging ride-hailing industry.
Fann said she doesn't have specific retirement plans, but her husband is itching to travel. And she said she'd like to be involved in any effort to bring civility back to politics.
