On Friday, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chose Julie Willoughby to fill the vacancy created by the expulsion of Liz Harris from the LD13 State House seat.
Supervisor Steve Gallardo, a Democrat, was the lone “no” vote.
Willoughby was immediately sworn into office by Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick.
Congratulations to new Arizona State Rep. Julie Willoughby on her appointment to the House of Representatives, serving District 13 in Chandler, Gilbert & Sun Lakes! @JWilloughbyLD13 @AZHouseGOP #AZLeg pic.twitter.com/7efwwGTwxX
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) May 5, 2023
Republicans across the political spectrum praised the move.
AZGOP Chairman Jeff DeWit tweeted: Congratulations to @JWilloughbyLD13 for being sworn in as the new representative of LD13, after her selection by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Congratulations to @JWilloughbyLD13 for being sworn in as the new representative of LD13, after her selection by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. #LD13 @AZGOP 🇺🇸 https://t.co/CdvVUfODfK
— Jeff DeWit (@JeffDeWitAZ) May 5, 2023
Kari Lake’s campaign account tweeted: “We would like to welcome @KariLake -endorsed candidate @JWilloughbyLD13 to the @AZHouseGOP. We are confident that she will provide LD13 with strong America First leadership.”
We would like to welcome @KariLake-endorsed candidate @JWilloughbyLD13 to the @AZHouseGOP.
We are confident that she will provide LD13 with strong America First leadership. pic.twitter.com/CNsGWAOLrc
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) May 5, 2023
Harris was expelled from the Legislature in April after being found to have damaged the integrity of the institution by the Ethics Committee.
Harris was collaborating with conspiracy theorists who accused innocent public officials and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints of being involved in a money laundering scheme with Mexican drug cartels.
Harris narrowly won her seat in the 2022 General Election in Legislative District 13, narrowly edging out Willoughby for the seat.
Once in office, Harris avoided most conservative alliances and continued to align herself with a group of people best described as “chaos agents” as well as members of the fringe group known as the “Patriot Party.”
“Willoughby will be 100 times better,” said one Republican precinct committeeman, “because she will vote at least as conservative as Harris did, she won’t sabotage conservative bills like Harris did, and she won’t spend her time embarrassing or targeting other Republicans the way Harris did.”
Willoughby will remain in the office for the duration of the two-year term and is expected to run for re-election in 2024. Former State Representative Jeff Weninger recently announced that he will be running for the second seat, while Democratic incumbent Jennifer Pawlik just announced that she would not be seeking reelection.