At issue is Blackman’s bill to criminalize stolen valor, which is the practice of exaggerating or fabricating military service for personal gain. It has already been the subject of intra-party controversy.
The House unanimously passed Blackman’s bill in February, only for it to stall in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee is chaired by GOP state Sen. Wendy Rogers, who endorsed Steve Slaton over Blackman in the 2024 primary. It was revealed last year that Slaton falsely claimed to have faced combat in Vietnam.
When Rogers pulled Blackman’s bill from the committee agenda — after dozens of veterans traveled from across the state to testify in favor of it — he blasted Rogers on social media. Blackman’s bill gained new life when Republican state Sen. Shawnna Bolick used a strike-everything amendment to send it back to the House.
That precipitated Wednesday’s vote. Despite having voted for the first iteration of the bill, this time Kolodin voted no. The bill passed 54-1.
“This bill, for the first time in Arizona law, makes lying in the context of an election a criminal offense. Now, who decides whether a politician is lying?” Kolodin asked the chamber while explaining his vote. “In this country, we’ve had a historical tradition that says the power is in the hands of the people. The voters get to say whether someone is lying or not.”
🚨🇺🇸Arizona Stolen Valor bill just passed the House 54-1, Rep Alex Kolodin @realAlexKolodin was the only NO vote on this bill, and his explanation for his no vote shows he didn’t understand the bill very much. Video of his “explanation” below.
— Stolen Valor (@StolenValor1) April 9, 2025
The bill now passes to the Senate… pic.twitter.com/yjqc5RxHkM
Kolodin’s reasoning clearly did not sit well with Blackman, who responded with a thunderous fury.
“Every single one of these medals that I’ve earned and that other people have earned is not about political speech. It’s about people dying for this country,” Blackman roared, shocking the GOP lawmakers standing behind him. “It’s about people who stand up and say, ‘Send me!’ And then we have people who say, ‘Don’t send me because I’m scared, but I’m gonna wear the same medals that you got.’”
Blackman then tore into Kolodin, who is not a veteran.
“When you say no, you are saying no to over a million people that have put their lives on the line — half a million veterans in this state,” Blackman said, his voice getting louder. “You are saying, ‘I don’t care — I don’t care that you died or had friends that died. I don’t care.’ It’s about the rule of law!”
'THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS': AZ State Rep. @BlackmanForAZ makes a passionate plea with his fellow House members to support the Stolen Valor Act (SB 1424). AZ House passed the bill 54-1, @realAlexKolodin being the single NAY. Now it heads to the Senate. @FOX10Phoenix… pic.twitter.com/VRewKnFU43
— Trenton Hooker (@trentonhooker) April 9, 2025
Kolodin explains
After the vote, Kolodin told Phoenix New Times via text that he felt the bill went too far in criminalizing stolen valor, whereas the previous version Blackman ran did not.“I respect Rep. Blackman and admire his passion on this issue,” Kolodin told New Times. “Indeed, I voted for his version of this bill. The Senate version, however, threatened free speech and I could not support it.”
Kolodin pointed to a new clause in the bill that says someone is guilty of stolen valor if a person “knowingly misrepresents themselves to be a veteran” in the “furtherance of a campaign for political office.” Kolodin said that passage “opens a door that shouldn’t be opened.”
In other ways, though, the latest version of the bill is narrower. It dropped a requirement that elected officials found guilty under the bill leave office and raised the threshold of money obtained from stolen valor to $50,000 for a violation to be considered a felony. It also replaced the fuzzier standard of “intent to induce another to submit to the person’s pretend official authority or to detrimentally rely on the person’s pretended official acts” with a more narrow standard of “intent to obtain money, property or any tangible benefit.”
Blackman did not respond to questions about Kolodin’s reservations.
The dust-up with Blackman is only the latest example of Kolodin rankling a member of his own party. Last week, the Scottsdale Republican announced his candidacy for secretary of state while also fabricating an endorsement from Arizona GOP chair Gina Swoboda. Kolodin also angered Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, also a Republican, when he blamed prosecutors for the death of Gilbert Goons victim Preston Lord.
While it rankled Blackman, Kolodin’s lone no vote didn’t hamper the stolen valor bill from moving on. It now heads to the Senate, where Senate President Warren Petersen has said he may not bring it up for vote. Recently, veteran and biennial political candidate Rodney Glassman, who is running against Petersen for attorney general in the 2026 GOP primary, called Petersen a “coward” at a press conference with other veterans in support of the bill.
Petersen did not respond to questions from New Times.
Whatever Kolodin believes — and whatever Petersen and Rogers do or don’t regarding the bill — it’s clear Blackman’s measure has widespread support. Via text, Navy combat veteran and unhoused advocate Ben Jeffrey told New Times via text that military service “cannot and must not be mocked by impostors who claim honors they never earned.”
“Stolen valor isn’t just a lie. It’s theft. It’s identity fraud against the soul of this nation. And there should be no room for it in Arizona,” Jeffrey continued “This bill deserves swift and bipartisan support.”
