Shelby Laine Slawson (born May 3, 1977) is an American attorney, businesswoman, and politician. She has represented the 59th District in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Slawson also serves as an attorney at her law firm, Slawson Law, PLLC in

Stephenville, Texas Stephenville is a city in and the county seat of Erath County, Texas, United States. It is on the North Bosque River, which forms nearby. Founded in 1854, it is home to Tarleton State University. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was ...

Early life

She was born and raised in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. She graduated from

Stephenville High School Stephenville High School, or SHS, is a public high school located in Stephenville, Texas and classified as a 4A school by the University Interscholastic League. It is part of the Stephenville Independent School District located in central Erath ...

. She attended

University of Texas at Dallas The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD or UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas. It is one of the largest public universities in the Dallas area and the northernmost institution of the University of Texas system. It wa ...

earning an undergraduate degree in government and politics in 2000. She earned her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

in 2003.

Career

Business

Since then she started and worked in small businesses, including Erath Rentals, Slawson Roofing, Inc., StephenvilleForRent.com, and as an attorney for her law firm. Slawson served as an appointed board member for the Stephenville Economic Development Authority (SEDA).

Politics

In 2018, Slawson ran for Erath County judge, losing to Alfonso Campos in a runoff election in the Republican primary. Shelby filed in June 2019 to run for the

District 59 seat, running against incumbent J. D. Sheffield. She defeated Sheffield in the 2020 Republican primary runoff with 61% of the vote in July 2020. Slawson ran unopposed in the November 2020 election. Slawson had endorsements from Sid Miller and

Pat Fallon Patrick Edward Fallon (born December 19, 1967) is an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he has been the U.S. representative for since 2021. He served the 30th district of the Texas Senate from 2019 to 2021. F ...

. On March 11, 2021, state senator

Bryan Hughes Bryan Hughes (born 19 June 1976) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder from 1994 to 2015, notably Premier League for Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic and Hull City as well as featuring ...

Mineola, Texas Mineola is a city in the U.S. state of Texas in Wood County. It lies 26 miles north of Tyler. Its population was 4,823 at the 2020 census. The town was incorporated as the railroads arrived in 1873. A railroad official, Ira H. Evans, combined t ...

introduced a six-week abortion ban entitled the Texas Heartbeat Bill (SB8) into the state senate, while Slawson introduced a companion bill (HB1515) into the Texas House.Najmabadi, Shannon
Gov. Greg Abbott signs into law one of nation's strictest abortion measures, banning procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy
''

Texas Tribune ''The Texas Tribune'' is a news website headquartered in Austin, Texas. It aims to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. Its website and content in various delivery platforms serve as an alternativ ...

'', May 19, 2021. The bill allowed private citizens to sue those who performed abortions after six weeks. The SB8 version of the bill passed both chambers and was signed into law by Texas Governor

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...

on May 19, 2021. It took effect on September 1, 2021.

References

External links

Campaign website

State legislative page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slawson, Shelby 1977 births Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Texas University of Texas at Dallas alumni University of Texas School of Law alumni People from Stephenville, Texas American lawyers Texas lawyers