Senator J.D. Mesnard Contact information

Javan Daniel “J.D.” Mesnard was born on May 15, 1980, in Tampa, Florida. He is an American politician and a Republican member of the Arizona Senate. He has been representing District 13 since 2023. Before this, he 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. He served the House 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. He was Speaker of the House for one term.

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. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music composition from Arizona State University, his master’s degree in business from the 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. He 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.

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. In 2019, Mesnard introduced legislation to create the position of lieutenant governor of Arizona beginning in 2026.