Justine Wadsack is an American politician. Wadsack was elected in 2022 to serve in the

Arizona State Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figures). Members serve two-year terms w ...

representing District 17 as a member of the Republican Party. Wadsack defeated incumbent State Senator

Vince Leach Venden "Vince" Leach is an American politician from Arizona. A Republican, he has been a member of the Arizona State Senate since 2019, representing District 11. From 2015 to 2019, he was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives representi ...

in the Republican primary.

Political career

2020 campaigns

Before running for office, Wadsack was a real estate agent and political activist.Ray Stern
Arizona state senator-elect told a judge that 'Antifa' attacked her home. Police reports show something else
''Arizona Republic'' (December 19, 2022). She first filed to run for office in 2019, and in 2020 unsuccessfully sought election to the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

and

. In 2020, Wadsack posted a

QAnon conspiracy theory QAnon ( , ) is an American political conspiracy theory and political movement. It originated in the American far-right political sphere in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q". T ...

slogan and QAnon

hashtags A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

on social media. She told ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' in September 2022 that she was unaware at the time of what QAnon claims involved, and later realized it was "crap."

2022 campaign

In 2022, Wadsack ran for Arizona state senate as a

Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...

-aligned candidate supported by the Arizona Tea Party and "Purple for Parents" (a group formed to oppose the Arizona " Red for Ed" movement).MAGA candidate defeats Arizona senator in Senate District 17
''Arizona Daily Star'' (August 3, 2022). She ran in the newly created Legislative District 17, which covers most of Tucson's northwest and far east sides, as well as

Rita Ranch Rita Ranch is a masterplanned community located in southeastern Tucson, Arizona. It is home to the Vail School District. It borders the small towns of Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The popula ...

.Carol Ann Alaimo
Primary voters have choices in three new Southern AZ state senate districts
''Arizona Daily Star'' (July 5, 2022). In the August 2022 Republican

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

, Wadsack defeated incumbent

, the senate president ''pro tempore''. Wadsack took 41% of the vote, Leach took 35%, and Robert Barr took 24%.Tim Steller
Judge rejects effort to knock Justine Wadsack from ballot
''

Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. History L. C. Hughes was the Arizona Territory governor and founder of the ''Arizona Star'', ...

'' (August 30, 2022). Supporters of Leach and other candidates sued to block Wadsack from the ballot, arguing that Wadsack did not live in LD 17 and was thus ineligible to be a candidate.Camryn Sanchez
Friends of Leach file lawsuit to get his name on general election ballot
''Arizona Capitol Times'' (August 18, 2022). Wadsack jointly owns a home in midtown Tucson (outside LD 17) in a trust with her husband; she testified that she moved into the home of a supporter in LD 17 in February 2022 after separating from her husband, but acknowledged that she continued to list the midtown Tucson address as her current residence after that time. In a hearing in

Pima County Pima County ( ) is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,043,433, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the population ...

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

, Wadsack claimed in testimony that she had moved to the home of a campaign donor after being repeated attacked by " antifa"; Tucson Police Department reports did not support this claim, making no mention of any "political or organized" attack on Wadsack's property. The Tucson police records did reflect that Wadsack had been taunted by one Texas man who was charged with misdemeanor hate crime and disorderly conduct. Wadsack later said that the police reports had missed some incidents. A state judge rejected the effort to remove Wadsack from the ballot, saying that the circumstances were "suspicious" but that the petitioners had not proven by "

clear and convincing evidence In a legal dispute, one party has the burden of proof to show that they are correct, while the other party had no such burden and is presumed to be correct. The burden of proof requires a party to produce evidence to establish the truth of facts ...

" that she was not an LD 17 resident at the time of the primary. In the November 2022 general election, Wadsack narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Mike Nickerson, a retired pastor. Wadsack won 63,501 votes to Nickerson's 60,420 votes.

Tenure in state Senate

Wadsack is aligned with the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

Arizona Freedom Caucus group of legislative Republicans.Gloria Rebecca Gomez
Far-right Republicans denounce push for ranked-choice voting in Arizona
''Arizona Mirror'' (March 17, 2023). During Governor

Katie Hobbs Kathleen Marie Hobbs (born December 28, 1969) is an American politician and social worker who is the governor-elect of Arizona, having been elected in 2022. She has served as the 21st secretary of state of Arizona since 2019. A member of the D ...

State of the State address The State of the State Address is a speech customarily given once each year by the governors of each of the states of the United States, although the terminology for this speech differs for some states: in Iowa, the speech is called the Condition of ...

in January 2023, Wadsack and fellow Republican Anthony Kern stood and turned their backs to the governor, while four Republican representatives walked out mid-speech.Caitlin Sievers
As Hobbs called for collaboration, some Republicans literally turned their backs
''Arizona Mirror'' (January 9, 2023). After the speech, Hobbs said that it was "unfortunate that some members chose an immature stunt instead, but we have really tough issues in front of us and we need to work together to stop them." In March 2023, Wadsack and other Freedom Caucus members denounced proposals to adopt

ranked-choice voting Ranked-choice voting may be used as a synonym for: * Ranked voting, a term used for any voting system in which voters are asked to rank candidates in order of preference * Instant-runoff voting (IRV), a specific ranked voting system with single-w ...

in Arizona and sponsored legislation to preemptively ban it in the state.Piper Hansen
Arizona Republican legislators announce formal opposition to ranked choice voting
Arizona PBS/Cronkite News (March 15, 2023). She attracted attention for introducing legislation (SB 1700) to give parents the power to ask schools to ban books they deem inappropriate.Camryn Sanchez
Wadsack recall effort underway
''Arizona Capitol Times'' (March 27, 2023). The legislation passed the Senate on a party-line vote in March 2023. Wadsack introduced a bill to amend the

Arizona Constitution The Constitution of the State of Arizona is the governing document and framework for the State of Arizona. The current constitution is the first and only adopted by the state of Arizona. History The Arizona Territory was authorized to hold a ...

to end

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

s in Arizona.Proposal to end city charters focuses on Tucson's voting system

KGUN-TV KGUN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Tucson, Arizona, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Sierra Vista-licensed CW affiliate KWBA-TV (channel 58). Both stations share studios on East ...

(March 9, 2023).Howard Fischer
CG's charter status spared after Shope helps to vote down bill
Capitol Media Services via ''Casa Grande Dispatch'' (March 8, 2023). The bill would have stripped 19 Arizona municipalities of their

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

rights,Mark Brodie
AZ Senate Republicans target how Tucson chooses City Council members
JKZZ (March 6, 2023). but was targeted at the City of Tucson.Proposal to end city charters focuses on Tucson's voting system

(March 9, 2023). Wadsack objected to Tucson's "modified ward" system for electing City Council members. Tucson's mayor criticized the bill for infringing on local control. Wadsack's bill was defeated after two Republican senators representing Districts with charter cities joined with Democrats to vote against it.Howard Fischer
Amendment to end home rule in Arizona cities defeated
Capitol Media Services (February 28, 2023). Wadsack claimed that the

State Bar of Arizona The State Bar of Arizona is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Arizona. The Arizona Supreme Court licenses lawyers, while the State Bar administers the regulation of the practice of law. The State Bar, under the direct ...

had threatened lawyers with disbarment if they represented litigants challenging

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

-related mandates and restrictions. The bar said that Wadsack's claims were false, and Wadsack refused to offer any evidence in support of her claims.Caitlin Sievers
Wadsack throws barbs at Arizona State Bar, refuses to offer any proof
''Arizona Mirror'' via ''Tucson Sentinel'' (March 10, 2023). Several Republican lawyers who had taken cases challenging COVID-19-related mandates said that Wadsack's claims were untrue.Caitlin Sievers
Wadsack throws barbs at Arizona State Bar, refuses to offer any proof
''Arizona Mirror'' via ''Tucson Sentinel'' (March 10, 2023). Nevertheless, Wadsack introduced legislation (SB 1435) that would shift attorney-licensing responsibilities from the bar to 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 justice i ...

. Wadsack is vice chair of the Education Committee.Jerod MacDonald-Evoy
Dueling bills aim to allow Az School for the Deaf & Blind to remain open: One GOP proposal would keep it open for just 2 years, another would extend the school for 5 years
''Arizona Mirror'' via ''Tucson Sentinel'' (March 30, 2023). In 2023, she introduced legislation (SB 1402) that would open the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) to students with all disabilities. Wadsack contended that the School's residential campus in Tucson was underused and that its mission should be expanded to accommodate other

special needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in ...

students.Mary Jo Pitzl
Inaction from Legislature puts future of Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind in limbo
''Arizona Republic'' (March 23, 2023). The proposal prompted an outcry from blind and deaf students, as well as their parents and advocates. They said Wadsack's proposal would reduce capacity for students with visual and auditory impairments and fundamentally alter the school's curriculum, which is geared toward instruction in

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

and

American sign language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

. Wadsack rejected these criticisms, but withdrew her bill in favor of a measure to create an ad hoc committee to study schools. She supported an amendment to reauthorize ASDB for two years, rather than the more typical eight years. In March 2023, a recall-petition campaign seeking to recall Wadsack from office was launched. The effort failed to obtain sufficient signatures to trigger a recall election.Camryn Sanchez
Wadsack recall effort fails
''Arizona Capitol Times'' (September 5, 2023).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadsack, Justine Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Republican Party Arizona state senators 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Arizona Politicians from Tucson, Arizona