| Julie Willoughby | |
| State House: | Arizona |
| District: | 13th |
| Alongside: | Jennifer Pawlik |
| Term Start: | May 5, 2023[1] |
| Predecessor: | Liz Harris |
| Party: | Republican |
| Education: | Arizona State University (BS)[2] |
| Signature: | Julie Willoughby Signature.png |
| Residence: | Chandler, Arizona |
Julie Willoughby is an American politician and ER nurse from Chandler, Arizona.[3] A Republican, she is a member of the Arizona House of Representatives and took office on May 5, 2023.[4] Willoughby was appointed in May 2023 from the 13th legislative district, which includes much of Chandler and the entirety of Sun Lakes.
Willoughby originally ran for office in 2018 and lost in the primary to Jeff Weninger and J.D. Mesnard's mother, Nora Ellen.[5] [6] Four years later, in 2022, she ran again and won the Republican primary election alongside Liz Harris.[7] Willoughby would go on to lose the general election, placing third to Harris and Jennifer Pawlik. After Harris was expelled from the Arizona House of Representatives, Willoughby was one of three names submitted to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to be appointed to replace Harris.[8] In a 4–1 vote, the Board of Supervisors selected Willoughby and she was sworn in the same day. [9] Willoughby is running for the seat in 2024.[10]
Despite currently not practicing medicine and actively pursuing political office herself, Willoughby represented herself only as an emergency room nurse in a 2024 swing state political issue ad for the Preserve America PAC, campaigning against the Biden/Harris administration's response to asylum seekers at the Mexico–United States border. In the ad, Willoughby alleges those migrants are forcing the denial of care to native/naturalized citizens when they utilize the American health care system through strain on ER resources.[11]