Arizona State Senator Paul Boyer, a Paradise Valley Community College alumni and current adjunct faculty member, has never been one to shy away from standing up for what he believes in. That passion and strength caught the attention of the state’s most prominent newspaper the Arizona Republic, which recently named him, along with five other Republican-elected officials, Arizonans of the Year 2021.
In December 2021, the paper recognized Boyer, along with Maricopa County Supervisors Clint Hickman, Jack Sellers and Bill Gates; Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer; and Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, for their steadfast conduct in standing up in opposition to the Maricopa County ballot audit for the 2020 election, undermining unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was rigged.
As quoted by the paper’s editor, “Over much of the last 14 months, our state has been ground zero for a protracted and manufactured drama about election integrity... The Arizona Republic recognizes these six as the 2021 Arizonans of the Year for their integrity under fire, their backbone to stand against the high-pressure tactics of a president of the United States and for their unwillingness to yield to high authority in the state Legislature that had so obviously lost its bearings.”
“The Arizona Republic began honoring an Arizonan of the Year in 2003. So even being mentioned in this same category as previous honorees such as former U.S. Senators Jon Kyl and John McCain is an honor in and of itself,” said Boyer.
Now entering his final year in the state Senate, Boyer reflected on the past decade in office, hoping to get back to his roots.
“I got into politics by accident,” said Boyer, who was working as a newspaper editor, when he had a life-altering ‘aha’ moment. In 2002, Boyer became captivated by the suicide bombing at a hotel in Israel during a Passover seder, killing 30 civilians and injuring 140 others. The event became known as the Passover Massacre around the world.
“I was 21 years old and completely shocked that something like this could happen. It was unfathomable to me,” he explained. “I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the attack and the unrest in Israel, reading through thousands of pages of material.”
Part of his discovery led him to spend a month in Israel with a group of Jewish American students. From there, he made his way to Washington D.C. for training seminars, which led to a variety of jobs working for politicians, including the Bush/Cheney 2004 presidential campaign.
In 2012, Boyer was elected to Arizona’s House of Representatives, representing District 20, and in 2019, he won his district’s Senate seat.
For 10 years, Boyer has divided his time between politics and his other passion – English and literature.
An Arizona native, Boyer began his academic career as a Puma at Paradise Valley Community College. He transferred to Arizona State University where he earned his bachelor’s in English. Boyer also holds a master’s in Communications Studies from ASU, and is currently working on his master’s in Humanities through the University of Dallas. During his years at the state capitol, Boyer also taught part time at the middle school and high school levels, and for the 2021-2022 academic year joined PVCC as an adjunct faculty teaching public speaking and an online communications course.
“I feel like I have the best of both worlds. I get to be with my students in the mornings talking about great literature, and then I get to pass good legislation in the afternoons,” he said. “I just keep my head down, work hard, and get good policy through.”
Boyer said PVCC had a significant impact on his school years, which he paid for himself. One English instructor in particular influenced his own teaching style. “He had the same love for literature as I do now,” Boyer reflected. “I would always bug him during office hours and was so interested in literary theory along with actual texts we were reading. His approach to letting students have more ownership over their assignments so that they are more invested is something that resonated with me and I am now doing with my own students.”
When his term ends later this year, Boyer intends to go back to teaching middle school and high school full-time. He doesn’t rule out a return to politics in the future, but in the meantime, he hopes to spend more time with his family and get back to nature enjoying his favorite hikes through the Grand Canyon.