By Hank Stephenson | Arizona Capitol Times
Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, appears to have locked up the votes to become the next speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives.
Fifteen Republican representatives and six candidates who are likely to win in November, an almost certain majority of the 2017 House GOP caucus, have publicly committed their support to him for speaker.
Mesnard has been locked in a hotly-contested race with Rep. Darin Mitchell, R-Litchfield Park, for the House’s top post. That race will be decided by Republican representatives in a closed-door, secret-ballot election on the day after the general election.