By Hank Stephenson and Ben Giles | Arizona Capitol Times
The Arizona House Republican caucus met today to select the chamber’s next majority leadership team, and as expected, the caucus selected Rep. J.D. Mesnard to run the chamber.
The 34 Republicans who were leading in their House races as of this morning selected Mesnard as speaker of the House by an acclamation vote.
That’s a smaller Republican caucus than currently occupies the chamber, although several House races are still too close to call, and Republicans could still pick up another seat.
Senate Republicans elected Steve Yarbrough as the chamber’s president, ushering in a new era of leadership with the departure of Sen. Andy Biggs.
Yarbrough, R-Chandler, cut a deal to become president and the de facto leader of the Senate’s GOP caucus shortly after Biggs, R-Gilbert, announced he’d run for Congress rather than seek re-election in Legislative District 12.