Shawnna Bolick (born 1975) is an American politician and a former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

member of the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Senate. The House convenes in the legislative chambers at the Arizona State ...

representing District 20 from 2019 to 2023.

Political career

Before being elected to the Arizona legislature, she 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 whose stated mission is "to defend and strengthen the freedom guaranteed to all Americans in the constitutions of the United States and all f ...

. 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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, she opposed the expansion of mail-in voting.

Attempt to overturn the 2020 election

After Joe Biden won Arizona in the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **Cro ...

and President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

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 legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United ...

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. She was a candidate in the

2022 Arizona Secretary of State election The 2022 Arizona Secretary of State election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next Secretary of State of Arizona, secretary of state of Arizona. Incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs ...

, but lost to State Representative Mark Finchem in the Republican primary.

Personal life

Bolick moved to Arizona in 2001. She is married to

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 justice ...

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 Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 19 ...

, 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 politicians 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Arizona 1975 births