The dome atop the Arizona Capitol Museum at the State Capitol in Phoenix. January 2021.
The Arizona House of Representatives voted Tuesday afternoon to censure State Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton.
The vote came a week after the House Ethics Committee found that the Tucson-area Democrat engaged in disorderly behavior when she hid Bibles that were in the members' lounge.
The vote to censure Stahl Hamilton was 30-28, but it was not fully on party lines. Rep. David Cook, a Republican from Globe, joined Democrats in voting against the censure.
"I do not like public shaming. I don't like it in schools, I don't like it in churches, and I darn sure don't like it here as it has been used as a weapon. This should have all been taken care of by leadership on both sides of the aisle and the members involved," Cook told the House.
Earlier in the day when Republicans moved to kick Stahl Hamilton out of the House, Cook also voted against that move.
Rep. Alexander Kolodin, voted to censure Stahl Hamilton and said as a business owner he would have fired her if she worked for him.
"I have seen my sacred symbols disrespected in my life. As a Jew, you see those things and I cannot imagine how my Christian colleagues must have felt when that happens when their holy book was put under a couch cushion for them to sit upon or put in a refrigerator," Kolodin said.
Stahl Hamilton, who is a Presbyterian minister, apologized for her actions.
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