Shawnna Bolick (born 1975) is an American politician who is a member of the

Arizona Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...

from the 2nd district since July 2023. A Republican, she was a member of the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...

representing District 20 from 2019 to 2023.

Political career

Before being elected to the Arizona legislature, Bolick was a consultant to the Arizona Charter School Association and the

Goldwater Institute The Goldwater Institute is a conservative and libertarian public policy think tank located in Phoenix, Arizona, whose stated mission is "to defend and strengthen the freedom guaranteed to all Americans in the constitutions of the United States and ...

. She ran unsuccessfully for Arizona House seats in District 11 and District 28 before winning a 2018 election for the 20th District. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she opposed the expansion of mail-in voting. On July 21, 2023, she was sworn in after being appointed to the

by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Attempt to overturn the 2020 election

After Joe Biden won Arizona in the 2020 presidential election and President Donald Trump refused to concede and made claims of voter fraud, Bolick urged Congress to throw out the presidential election results from Arizona and give the state's electoral college votes to Trump. She also introduced legislation in January 2021 to rewrite the election laws in Arizona to give the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

the power to reject the election results "at any time before the presidential inauguration" (i.e., even after the results were certified by the Secretary of State and by the governor and the electoral votes counted by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

). At the time, the legislature was controlled by the Republican Party. Some contend that the bill is inconsistent with the state constitution. Bolick's legislation would also prevent judges from throwing out baseless court cases without evidence; the cases would instead have to be adjudicated by a jury. The bill, Arizona House Bill 2720, died in committee. Bolick was a candidate in the 2022 Arizona Secretary of State election, but lost to State Representative

Mark Finchem Mark William Finchem (born April 24, 1957) is an American far-right politician who serves as a member of the Arizona Senate. He was previously a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 11 from 2015 to 2023. He is th ...

in the Republican primary. On July 19, 2023, she was selected by the

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is the governing body of Maricopa County, a county of over four million in Arizona. The five supervisors are each elected from single-member districts to serve four-year terms. Partisan primary, Primary el ...

to replace Steve Kaiser following his resignation from the

Overturning the 1864 Territorial Abortion Law

Following the

Arizona Supreme Court The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Each justi ...

decision Decision may refer to: Law and politics *Judgment (law), as the outcome of a legal case *Landmark decision, the outcome of a case that sets a legal precedent * ''Per curiam'' decision, by a court with multiple judges Books * ''Decision'' (novel) ...

to reinstate an 1864

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

abortion law Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances ...

, Shawnna Bolick was the first legislative Republican (alongside Senator T. J. Shope) who voted to repeal the ban, which contained no exceptions for rape or incest. On May 1, 2024, Bolick and Shope voted with all Democrats in the State Senate to repeal the ban on a vote of 16–14, one week after the State House voted 32–28 to repeal the ban.

Personal life

Bolick moved to Arizona in 2001. She is married to Arizona Supreme Court Justice

Clint Bolick Clint Bolick (born December 26, 1957) is a justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Previously, he served as Vice President of Litigation at the conservative/libertarian Goldwater Institute. He co-founded the libertarian Institute for Justice, where ...

. Justice Bolick is a longtime friend of

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served since 1991 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President George H. W. Bush nominated him to succeed Thurgood Marshall. Afte ...

, who is godfather to Bolick's son. She has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolick, Shawnna Living people Republican Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Arizona 1975 births Republican Party Arizona state senators Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature