What You Didn't Know About Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona
By Jennifer L. Jack
Posted 11/15/06
- John Barden Shadegg was born Oct. 22, 1949, in Phoenix.
- His father, Stephen, was an adviser to Sen. Barry Goldwater and ran his 1952 Senate campaign. The younger Shadegg eventually cofounded the Goldwater Institute for Public Policy in Phoenix.
- Shadegg was a member of the Camelback High School's Republican Club and graduated in 1967. While in high school, he had the opportunity to interview conservative columnist William F. Buckley.
- After high school, he attended the University of Arizona, earning bachelor of arts and law degrees.
- He opposed the Vietnam War, but served as a member of the Arizona Air National Guard from 1969 to 1975.
- An Episcopalian, Shadegg is a member of the Vestry of Christ Church of the Ascension in Arizona.
- Shadegg did not hold any political office before being elected the House of Representatives in 1994. Before that, he practiced law and was special assistant state attorney general (1983 to 1990).
- In 2004, he made news when he called for Arizona Republican National Convention delegates to stop buying USA Today because controversial filmmaker Michael Moore had gotten into the convention with press credentials from the newspaper.
- Shadegg and his wife, Shirley, have two children, Courtney and Stephen.
- He had a heart bypass operation in 2002. To take it easy, he spends time on his 1973 Bertram 28, a boat named the Inevitable that he has owned since 1980.