Paul Gosar

Paul Anthony Gosar (born November 27, 1958) is an American far-right politician and dentist who has represented Arizona's 9th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023 and represented Arizona's 4th congressional district from 2013 to 2023.

Gosar was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming, on November 27, 1958.

He is the eldest of seven sons and three daughters.

His paternal grandparents were Slovenian and his maternal grandparents were Basque immigrants from Banca, on the Franco-Spanish border.

Gosar was raised in Pinedale, Wyoming, and graduated from Pinedale High School in 1977.

His parents have been described as devoted Republicans who attended the national conventions for former presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford.

In 1981, Gosar received his B.S. degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

In 1985, he earned his D.D.S. from the Boyne School of Dentistry at Creighton.

From 1989 to 2010, Gosar had a dentistry practice in Flagstaff, Arizona.

In 2001, Gosar was the Arizona Dental Association's (AzDA) "Dentist of the Year".

He was inducted into the AzDA Hall of Fame and served as its president from 2004 to 2005.

Gosar was also president of the Northern Arizona Dental Society and vice-chair of the AzDA council on governmental affairs.

In 2009, Gosar, who had never run for elected office before, announced that he would challenge Democratic incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick in the 1st district in the 2010 elections.

He was identified as a Tea Party candidate by The New York Times because the Arizona Tea Party featured him on its website.

Gosar won the Republican primary.

He was endorsed by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and three Arizona county sheriffs: Maricopa County's Joe Arpaio, Coconino County's Joe Richards, and Pinal County's Paul Babeu.

Kirkpatrick challenged him to five debates across the district.

Gosar initially agreed to one debate but later withdrew.

He released a statement explaining that his decision to withdraw from the debate was based on the long drive to and from the television station, KAET in Phoenix, which had organized the debate, but a producer at KAET said that Gosar's staff had told the station that the candidate could not participate in the debate because he would be attending a fundraiser instead.

A Republican, he was elected in 2010 to represent the neighboring 1st congressional district until redistricting.

Gosar's support of conspiracy theories, his extreme opposition to abortion and contraception, his alleged connections to Holocaust deniers, and his alleged ties to far-right militant groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, have sparked controversy.

Sources include:

Gosar opposes the Affordable Care Act, abortion, gun control, and immigration.

Gosar's brother Pete is a former chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party and was a candidate for governor of Wyoming in 2010 and 2014.

Gosar defeated Kirkpatrick in the November 2010 general election, taking 49.7% of the vote.

Gosar initially planned to seek reelection in the 1st district, which had been made less favorable to Republicans as a result of redistricting, but with Kirkpatrick priming for a rematch, he changed his mind and announced in January 2012 that he would run in the newly created 4th district.

The 4th had absorbed much of the western portion of the old 1st district and was heavily Republican.

Gosar rented an apartment in Prescott, the largest city in the 4th, which he claims as his official residence.

While members of the House are only constitutionally required to live in the state they represent, Gosar claimed he would eventually buy a home in the 4th.

Despite this, he still claims his home in Flagstaff as his primary residence; he has long received tax breaks on his Flagstaff home due to this status.

While he is registered to vote in Yavapai County, home to Prescott, his wife is registered to vote in Coconino County, home to Flagstaff.

Gosar initially faced a tough primary fight against Babeu, but Babeu pulled out in May 2012 owing to allegations of abuse of power.

Gosar defeated former state senator Ron Gould and businessman Rick Murphy in the Republican primary, all but assuring him a second term in Congress.

In the November general election, he defeated Democratic challenger Johnnie Robinson with 67% of the vote.

Gosar easily won reelection, winning 70% of the vote against Democratic nominee Mikel Weisser in the 2014 midterm elections.

Gosar faced Weisser again in 2016.

He has been a strong ally of former president Donald Trump, and voted to overturn the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Gosar was censured by the U.S. House of Representatives and stripped of his committee assignments in November 2021; it was the first House censure since 2010 and only the 24th in U.S. history.

The censure came after Gosar posted a video on social media depicting himself as an anime character attacking other characters with the superimposed faces of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden.

In January 2023, after Republicans won control of the U.S. House in the 2022 elections, they restored Gosar to all of his committee assignments.