| J. D. Mesnard | |
| State Senate: | Arizona |
| District: | 13th |
| Term Start: | January 9, 2023 |
| Predecessor: | Sine Kerr |
| State Senate1: | Arizona |
| District1: | 17th |
| Term Start1: | January 14, 2019 |
| Term End1: | January 9, 2023 |
| Predecessor1: | Steve Yarbrough |
| Successor1: | Justine Wadsack |
| Office2: | 53rd Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives |
| Term Start2: | January 9, 2017 |
| Term End2: | January 14, 2019 |
| Predecessor2: | David Gowan |
| Successor2: | Russell Bowers |
| Office3: | Member of the Arizona House of Representatives |
| Alongside3: | Thomas Forese (2011–2015) Jeff Weninger (2015–2019) |
| Constituency3: | 21st district (2011–2013) 17th district (2013–2019) |
| Term Start3: | January 10, 2011 |
| Term End3: | January 14, 2019 |
| Predecessor3: | Rich Crandall |
| Successor3: | Jennifer Pawlik |
| Birth Date: | 15 May 1980 |
| Birth Place: | Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Party: | Republican |
| Spouse: | Holly 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.
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.
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).
Prior to running for office, Mesnard spent eight years working at the Arizona Senate where he served as a policy advisor.
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]
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]
Mesnard voted against repealing Arizona's 1846 total ban on abortion.[8]
Mesnard opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).[9] He also opposes Medicaid expansion, which Arizona adopted in 2013.[10] 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.[11]
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