Trent Franks

Harold Trent Franks (born June 19, 1957) is an American businessman and former politician who served as the U.S. representative for Arizona's 8th congressional district from 2003 to 2017 (numbered as the 2nd district from 2003 to 2013). He is a member of the Republican Party. During his tenure, Franks served as vice chairman of the United States House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces and chairman of the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

In December 2017, the House Ethics Committee announced that it would investigate allegations of sexual harassment against Franks. Franks had repeatedly asked two female staffers to bear his children as surrogate mothers, and allegedly offered one of them $5 million to carry his child and retaliated against her when she declined. The women feared that Franks wanted to impregnate them sexually as part of the surrogacy process. Franks acknowledged discussing surrogacy with the aides but denied the other allegations; he resigned from Congress immediately after the ethics investigation was announced, blaming his situation on "the current cultural and media climate."

Franks was born in Uravan, Colorado, a uranium mining company town which became a ghost town. Franks is the son of Juanita and Edward Taylor Franks. He was born with a cleft lip and palate. After his parents separated, Franks took care of his younger siblings. Franks graduated from Briggsdale High School in Colorado in 1976.

In 1987, he completed a course of study at the non-accredited Utah's National Center for Constitutional Studies, formerly known as the Freemen Institute. For one year, from 1989 to 1990, he attended the Arizona campus of Ottawa University.

After high school, Franks bought a drilling rig and moved to Texas to drill wells with his best friend and his younger brother. He moved to Arizona in 1981, where he continued to drill wells.

In 1984, while working as an engineer for an oil and gas royalty-purchasing firm, Franks began his political career by running in a heavily Democratic district for a seat in the Arizona House of Representatives, against incumbent Democrat Glenn Davis. Franks campaigned on a conservative "Reagan Republican" platform emphasizing stronger child protection laws as well as the overturning of Roe v. Wade. He narrowly won the election by 155 votes amid that year's massive national Republican wave. In the state legislature, Franks served as Vice-Chairman of the Commerce Committee and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Child Protection and Family Preservation.

In November 1988, Franks ran again for a legislative seat, moving to District 18 shortly before the filing deadline. He lost that election.

In January 1987, he was appointed by Republican Governor Evan Mecham to head the Arizona Governor's Office for Children, a cabinet-level division of the governor's office responsible for overseeing and coordinating state policy and programs for Arizona's children.

Franks then founded the Arizona Family Research Institute, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Focus on the Family. He was the executive director of the organization for four and a half years. He was successful in the Republican primary but lost in the November general election.

Franks ran for Arizona's 4th congressional district in 1994, after incumbent U.S. Representative Jon Kyl decided to run for the U.S. Senate. He lost to John Shadegg, 43–30%.

Following the 2000 census, Arizona got two additional seats. Franks' home in Glendale was drawn into the 2nd district. That district had previously been the 3rd District, represented by 13-term incumbent Republican Bob Stump, who was not running for reelection. The initial favorite in the race was Lisa Jackson Atkins, Stump's longtime chief of staff, whom Stump had endorsed as his successor. Atkins had long been very visible in the district (in contrast to her more low-key boss) to the point that many thought she was the district's representative. Franks narrowly defeated Atkins in the seven-candidate Republican primary, 28–26%, a difference of just 797 votes. He won the November 2002 general election, defeating Democrat Randy Camacho, 60–37%.

Franks faced competition in the Republican primary from the more moderate businessman Rick Murphy. Franks defeated him 64–36%. He won re-election to a second term, by defeating Camacho in a rematch, 59–38%.

He won re-election to a third term with 59% of the vote.

He won re-election to a fourth term with 59% of the vote.

Franks and his wife, Josephine, have been married since 1980; they are members of the North Phoenix Baptist Church. Franks' wife, Josephine, is an immigrant.