South Carolina state senate Electoral history 2008 election In 2008, Shealy ran for the Republican Party's State Senate District 23 nomination against long-time incumbent state senator
Jake Knotts. Despite support from prominent Republicans including
United States Senator Jim DeMint, Shealy was defeated.
2012 election Shealy filed again as a candidate in the 2012
Republican primary. Her name was removed from the ballot after it was determined that she incorrectly filed her candidate paperwork. This case went to the SC Supreme Court and resulted in the removal of over 200 candidates from the ballot that year who had also incorrectly filed their paperwork. Shealy fought to have her name added to the general election ballot as a petition candidate and won the November 7, 2012 general election with 51% of the vote.
2016 election In 2016, she defeated her two Republican primary challengers, Michael Sturkie and Patricia Wheat, attaining more than 60% of the vote. In the general election, she was unopposed and elected to a second term in the state Senate.
2020 election Running against Democrat Bill Brown, Shealy was reelected to serve a third term on November 3, 2020, with 72.5% of the vote.
2024 election In 2024, Shealy saw two Republican primary challengers,
Carlisle Kennedy and Zoe Warren. Shealy faced Carlisle Kennedy in a runoff. On June 25, Shealy was defeated by Kennedy, and conceded the race.
Tenure Shealy chaired the Senate Family and Veterans' Services Committee, and served on the Senate Corrections and Penology, Finance, and Rules Committees. In her first term, Shealy served on the Agricultural and Natural Resources Committee, Corrections and Penology Committee, Fish, Game and Forestry Committee, General Committee, and the Judiciary Committee. Shealy was also co-chair of the SC Suicide Prevention Coalition and a member of the Governor's Committee on Domestic Violence. She also served on the Senate Operations and Management Committee. Senator Shealy served on the Board for the National Foundation of Women Legislators and served as National Chair in 2022. In 2018, Shealy sponsored SB05, which created the Office of the Child Advocate (S805). This Agency has oversight over the nine state agencies that handle children's issues and went into effect on July 1, 2019.
Reproductive rights In 2022, Shealy received national attention for a speech criticizing her colleagues' approach to abortion legislation. In 2023, she joined with a Democrat, an Independent and two other Republican women state senators, calling themselves, "The Sister Senators": Sen.
Mia McLeod (I-Richland), Sen. Katrina Shealy (R-Lexington), Sen.
Penry Gustafson (R-Kershaw), Sen.
Margie Bright-Matthews (D-Colleton), and Sen.
Sandy Senn (R-Charleston). They
filibustered a bill that would have banned abortion after conception, with exemptions for cases of rape and incest available only in the first trimester. Shealy, Gustafson, and Senn were all defeated in their primary elections the following year.
Endorsements In June 2023, Shealy endorsed
Tim Scott in the
2024 United States presidential election.
Katrina's Kids In 2015 Shealy created a
501(c)3, Katrina's Kids, to serve children in
Foster Care and
Group Homes across all 46 counties in South Carolina. The foundation raises funds to send children to summer camp, participate in sporting opportunities, or any approved extracurricular activity not supported by state funding. The foundation has also helped with medical or dental funding for children. Katrina's Kids holds an Annual Music Benefit and a Race for the Case 5K event that helps supply suitcases and backpacks for children entering foster care. == Personal life ==