Connie Conway

Connie Marie Conway (born September 25, 1950) is an American retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district from 2022 to 2023. She was a member of the California State Assembly from 2008 to 2014. Before that, Conway was a member of the board of supervisors for Tulare County from 2001 until 2008. She is a member of the Republican Party.

Conway was born in Bakersfield, California. She attended the College of the Sequoias and California State University, Fresno. Her father, John Conway, served on the Tulare County Board of Supervisors from 1981 until his death in 1991.

From 1988 to 1991, Conway worked as a wellness coordinator at the Kaweah Delta Medical Center. From 1991 to 1994, she worked at Sweet's Home Medical. From 1994 to 2000, Conway worked as a district manager at CorVel Corporation.

Conway served on the Tulare County Board of Supervisors for eight years. She also chaired the board in 2005 and 2008. Conway also chaired the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, an appointment she received from the governor. The partnership works to improve the economy and quality of life in the San Joaquin Valley by making policy recommendations to the governor. In 2006, Conway served as president of the California State Association of Counties, representing California's 58 counties at the state and federal levels. She later became a director of the National Association of Counties, chaired its membership committee, and worked on its economic development committee.

Conway entered the 2008 election to succeed termed-out Bill Maze in the California State Assembly. In the primary, she faced two candidates, Rebecca Maze (the incumbent's wife) and Bob Smith, a retired sheriff's deputy, and won.

After her reelection to the Assembly on November 2, 2010, Conway was elected by her Republican colleagues as the Assembly Republican Leader after a closed-door meeting of Assembly Republicans on November 4. She said that outgoing Minority Leader Martin Garrick had voluntarily stepped down, and she had been elected unanimously. Conway was the first woman to serve as GOP assembly leader since 1981.

Under the term limits law in effect in California at the time, Conway was limited to three terms in the Assembly; she stepped down at the end of her third term in 2014.

Elections

2022 special

Conway was a candidate in the 2022 special election in California's 22nd congressional district to replace Devin Nunes, who stepped down in January 2022. In the April nonpartisan blanket primary, she advanced to a runoff against Democrat Lourin Hubbard. On June 7, 2022, Conway defeated Hubbard in the runoff election.

Tenure

Conway was sworn in on June 14, 2022. On July 19, Conway voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which would protect the right to same-sex marriage at a federal level. On August 12, Conway voted against the Inflation Reduction Act.

Conway did not seek a full term in November 2022.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs

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Conway is a Roman Catholic.