Justin Rory Gonzales (born c. 1982) is an employee of a logging company in Okolona,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, who is a Republican member of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...

for District 19, which encompasses

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin language, Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone ...

, Pike,

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

, and Hempstead counties in the southwestern portion of his state. In 2014, he was elected to succeed Democrat

Nate Steel Nate Steel is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. During the 89th General Assembly session from 2013 to 2015, Steel served on the Judiciary committee. Education ...

, who ran unsuccessfully for

state attorney general The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney gener ...

against

Leslie Rutledge Leslie Carol Rutledge (born June 9, 1976) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Arkansas, served as the 56th attorney general of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023. She is the 21st lieutenant governor of Arkansas, since 2023. Rutledge ...

in a general Republican sweep of Arkansas elections. In his first term in office, Gonzales sits on the committees of (1) Revenue and Taxation, (2) County, City and Local Affairs, and (3) the Joint Committee on Advanced Communication and Information Technology. Gonzales graduated c. 2000 from Gurdon High School in Gurdon in Clark County. He is a member of the board of his local Church of God denomination and is president of youth baseball and softball teams in Gurdon. He serves on the Okolona Volunteer Fire Department. He and his wife, Cassie, have two children. In February 2015, Gonzales joined dozens of his fellow Republicans and two Democrats in co-sponsoring legislation submitted by Representative Lane Jean of

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

, to reduce unemployment compensation benefits. The measure was promptly signed into law by Republican

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, '' AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who is the 46th and current governor of Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. attorney for the Fort Smit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzales, Justin 1982 births Living people Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives American politicians of Mexican descent People from Clark County, Arkansas Gurdon High School alumni 21st-century American politicians