AZ-SD13: Democratic newcomer challenges experienced GOP senator in pivotal Chandler district

In a race that could determine whether Republicans keep control of the Arizona Senate, a Democratic newcomer is challenging one of the most experienced lawmakers in the state legislature.

J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, was first elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2010, where he later served as speaker for two years, before being elected to the Senate in 2018. Before joining the legislature as an elected official, Mesnard was a policy advisor in the Senate for eight years, and he’s worked as a political science professor for the past two decades, including at Arizona State University and Gilbert and Mesa community colleges

Mesnard was the architect behind the state’s flat personal income tax rate, approved in 2021 by legislative Republicans and then-Gov. Doug Ducey and implemented in January 2023, and he’s worked as an advisor for Alliance Defending Freedom, a Scottsdale-based anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion law firm that sued to ban abortion pills nationwide, since 2018.

Mesnard’s Democratic opponent, Sharon Winters, is a children’s book author, a former special education teacher and a newcomer to politics who says she’s focused on reproductive rights and better funding for public schools.





https://azmirror.com/2024/10/16/sharon-winters-challenges-jd-mesnard-in-pivotal-chandler-district/