J. D. Mesnard

J. D. Mesnard
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives from the 17th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 14, 2013 Serving with Jeff Weninger
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives from the 21st district
In office January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2013 Serving with Thomas Forese
Preceded by	Rich Crandall
Personal details
Born	(1981-03-03) March 3, 1981 Tampa, Florida MacDill AFB
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Holly Mesnard
Residence	Chandler, Arizona
Alma mater	Arizona State University University of Phoenix Keller Graduate School of Management
Profession	Politician/Teacher (Mesa Community College)
Website	jdmesnard.com

Javan "J. D." Mesnard^[1] (born May 15, 1980 in Tampa, Florida)^[2] is an American politician and a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives representing District 17 since January 14, 2013. Mesnard previously served consecutively from January 10, 2011 until January 14, 2013 in the District 21 seat.

Education

Born at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida (his father is a retired fighter pilot), J.D. has lived in Arizona for over 20 years. He is a small business owner, investor, consultant and professor at Mesa Community College. J.D. spent many years as a music team leader, and as a youth counselor and mentor at his local church.

Mesnard earned his bachelor's degree in music composition from Arizona State University, his master's degree in business from University of Phoenix, and his master's in public administration from Keller Graduate School of Management (now DeVry University). While in graduate school, J.D. caught the attention of a professor who was an Adjunct Scholar with the National Center for Policy Analysis (a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy think tank based in Texas and Washington D.C.), and was subsequently recruited to join with the professor and with Chief Economist and speaker Dr. Barry Asmus to be a spokesman for the NCPA.

Career

Mesnard is State Representative from Legislative District 17 (Chandler, Gilbert and Sun Lakes), having been elected to the Arizona House of Representatives on November 2, 2010. He served as the Speaker Pro Tempore of the Arizona House of Representatives under Speaker Tobin from 2012-2014. He is currently the favorite to become the next Speaker of the House in 2017 should he win his bid for re-election in November 2016.

Prior to running for office, J.D. spent eight years working at the Arizona Senate where he served as a policy advisor on issues ranging from education, transportation and retirement, to family services and government administration. During his employment at the Senate, he was Senate Coordinator for the "Legislators Back to School Program." Sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures, the intent of this program is to bring civics to life by connecting legislators with classrooms to give kids of all ages a chance to talk about their ideas with the state legislators who represent them.

J.D. is currently faculty at Mesa Community College, where he teaches courses in government and political science.

Elections

• 2014 Mesnard and Jeff Weninger defeated Danielle Lee on November 4. (PDF) Mesnard received 30,018 votes .
• 2012 Redistricted to District 17 with fellow incumbent Representative Forese, and with incumbent Democratic Representatives Ed Ableser running for Arizona Senate and Ben Arredondo leaving the Legislature, Forese and Mesnard were unopposed for the August 28, 2012 Republican Primary; Forese placed first, and Mesnard placed second with 13,439 votes;^[3] Forese and Mesnard won the four-way November 6, 2012 General election, with Forese taking the first seat and Mesnard taking the second seat with 42,955 votes against Democratic nominee Karyn Lathan and a write-in candidate.^[4]
• 2010 When District 21 incumbent Republican Representative Steve Yarbrough ran for Arizona Senate and Warde Nichols left the Legislature, Mesnard ran in the three-way August 24, 2010 Republican Primary, placing second with 13,086 votes;^[5] in the three-way November 2, 2010 General election, Thomas Forese took the first seat, and Mesnard took the second seat with 39,891 votes against Green candidate Linda Macias.^[6]

2016 Arizona Election Scandal

In March 2016, Mesnard represented District 17 as the Vice Chairman of the Arizona House Elections Committee Hearing on the difficulties voters experienced at polls during the March 22 presidential primaries. For the primaries, polling stations had been reduced from 200 to 60 in Maricopa County and many voters were forced to wait hours, nearly 5 hours in some cases, to vote.^[7] During the House Elections Committee Hearing on March 28, Mesnard responded to those who came to testify about their experiences.^[8]

References

External links

• Official page at the Arizona State Legislature
• Campaign site
• Profile at Project Vote Smart