He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993, and was a finalist four times while at The Arizona Republic. Some of his work rankled his own Mormon community.

Steve Benson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for The Arizona Republic and a four-time finalist for the award, who used his razor-edged pen to mock an Arizona governor and fellow Mormon, leading to a lasting rift with the church authorities, died on July 8 in Gilbert, Ariz. He was 71.

His wife, Claire Ferguson, said the death was from complications of a stroke in February 2024. He had been under hospice care at an assisted living center.

Like most effective editorial cartoonists — whose ranks have been trimmed by the contracting newspaper industry — Mr. Benson used his unflinching opinions and a provocative drawing style to rile politicians and raise questions about moral and societal issues.

In an interview in 2017 with KJZZ Radio in Phoenix, Mr.