J. D. Mesnard

Javan Daniel "J.D." Mesnard[1] (born May 15, 1980 in Tampa, Florida)[2] is an American politician and a Republican member of the Arizona Senate representing District 13 since 2023. He previously represented District 17 from 2019 to 2023.

J. D. Mesnard
Member of the Arizona Senate
from the 13th district
Assumed office
January 9, 2023
Preceded bySine Kerr
Member of the Arizona Senate
from the 17th district
In office
January 14, 2019 – January 9, 2023
Preceded bySteve Yarbrough
Succeeded byJustine Wadsack
53rd Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives
In office
January 9, 2017 – January 14, 2019
Preceded byDavid Gowan
Succeeded byRussell Bowers
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives
In office
January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2019
Serving with Thomas Forese (2011–2015)
Jeff Weninger (2015–2019)
Preceded byRich Crandall
Succeeded byJennifer Pawlik
Constituency21st district (2011–2013)
17th district (2013–2019)
Personal details
Born (1980-05-15) May 15, 1980
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseHolly Mesnard
EducationArizona State University, Tempe (BM)
University of Phoenix (MBA)
DeVry University (MPA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Mesnard spent eight years as a staffer for the Arizona Senate before being elected to the Arizona House of Representatives (where he was Speaker of the House for one term), from District 21 (Chandler, Gilbert, Sun Lakes, Mesa, Queen Creek) from 2011 to 2013, and then from District 17 (Chandler, Gilbert, Sun Lakes) from 2013 to 2019. Mesnard was elected to the state Senate in 2018, and took office in 2019. In the state legislature, Mesnard has opposed Arizona's Medicaid expansion, promoted the expansion of school voucher expansion, and proposed legislation to curtail voting rights by purging voters from the rolls.

Education

Mesnard is on the adjunct faculty at Mesa Community College.[3]

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).

Career

Prior to running for office, Mesnard spent eight years working at the Arizona Senate where he served as a policy advisor.

Arizona House of Representatives

Mesnard was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in the 2010 elections, and took office in January 2011. He was Speaker Pro Tempore under Speaker Tobin from 2013 to 2014. He was Speaker of the House for the 2017–2018 term.

As House speaker, Mesnard was a key supporter of school voucher expansion legislation; the proposal passed the legislature, but a grassroots group collected enough signatures to refer the issue to voters. In November 2018, the voucher-expansion proposal (Proposition 305) was rejected by a large margin.[4]

Arizona Senate

Mesnard was elected to the Arizona Senate in the 2018 elections, taking office in January 2019. He chairs the Senate Commerce Committee and previously chaired the Finance Committee.[5]

In 2019, Mesnard introduced legislation to create the position of lieutenant governor of Arizona beginning in 2026. Arizona is one of a minority of states without the office; Arizona voters had previously rejected proposals to create the office in 1994 and 2010.[6][7]

Health care

Mesnard opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).[8] He also opposes Medicaid expansion, which Arizona adopted in 2013.[9] In 2015, Mesnard was among 36 current and former Republican lawmakers who filed an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to overturn Arizona's Medicaid expansion on the grounds that an assessment imposed on hospitals was a tax that, under Proposition 108 (a ballot initiative passed in 1992), required the approval of a two-thirds majority of the Legislature. The lawsuit was unanimously rejected by the Arizona Supreme Court in a 2017 decision.[10]

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;[11] 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.[12]
  • 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;[13] 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.[14]

References
  1. "Javan "J.D." Mesnard". Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  2. "J.D. Mesnard's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  3. "Javan Daniel Mesnard | Contacts | Mesa Community College".
  5. "AZLeg.gov". Arizona State Legislature. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  6. Howard Fischer, Does Arizona need a lieutenant governor?, Capitol Media Services (February 17, 2019).
  7. Our View: Lieutenant governor plan is less bad than previous versions Today's News Herald (March 14, 2019).
  8. "New AZ House speaker looks forward to Obamacare repeal". 12news.com. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  9. Howard Fischer (2017-11-17). "Arizona Supreme Court upholds Medicaid expansion". Arizona Capitol Times. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  10. Alltucker, Ken. "Arizona Supreme Court rejects GOP lawmakers' suit to overturn state's Medicaid expansion". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  11. "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2012 Primary Election August 28, 2012" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  12. "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2012 General Election November 6, 2012" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 11 & 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  13. "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2010 Primary Election - August 24, 2010" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  14. "State of Arizona Official Canvass 2010 General Election - November 2, 2010" (PDF). Phoenix, Arizona: Secretary of State of Arizona. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
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