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Justin Wilmeth

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Justin Wilmeth
Image of Justin Wilmeth
Arizona House of Representatives District 2
Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Prior offices
Arizona House of Representatives District 15

Compensation

Base salary

$24,000/year

Per diem

For legislators residing within Maricopa County: $35/day. For legislators residing outside of Maricopa County: $251.66.

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Arizona State University, 2013

Graduate

Arizona State University, 2019

Personal
Birthplace
Odessa, Texas
Religion
Christian
Profession
Policy advisor
Contact

Justin Wilmeth (Republican Party) is a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, representing District 2. He assumed office on January 9, 2023. His current term ends on January 11, 2027.

Wilmeth (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Arizona House of Representatives to represent District 2. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Justin Wilmeth was born in Odessa, Texas, and lives in the Deer Valley area of Arizona. Wilmeth earned a B.S. in political science, cum laude, from Arizona State University in 2013 and an M.P.A. from Arizona State University in 2019. His career experience includes working as an actor, a newswriter for KFOR Oklahoma's News 4, a campaign manager and field representative, a communications specialist for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, a deputy state director for Americans for Prosperity - Oklahoma, a communications editor for AH Strategies and a policy advisor to the Arizona House of Representatives. Wilmeth also founded Firebrand Strategic Consulting.[1][2][3]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Wilmeth was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Wilmeth was assigned to the following committees:


The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 (2 seats)

Stephanie Simacek and incumbent Justin Wilmeth defeated Ari Bradshaw and Tom Simes in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Stephanie Simacek
Stephanie Simacek (D)
 
30.3
 
47,797
Image of Justin Wilmeth
Justin Wilmeth (R)
 
29.8
 
46,943
Image of Ari Bradshaw
Ari Bradshaw (R) Candidate Connection
 
29.7
 
46,809
Image of Tom Simes
Tom Simes (Independent) Candidate Connection
 
10.1
 
15,947

Total votes: 157,496
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 (2 seats)

Stephanie Simacek advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on July 30, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Stephanie Simacek
Stephanie Simacek
 
100.0
 
14,072

Total votes: 14,072
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 (2 seats)

Incumbent Justin Wilmeth and Ari Bradshaw defeated Danielle Hagen in the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on July 30, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Justin Wilmeth
Justin Wilmeth
 
54.5
 
14,896
Image of Ari Bradshaw
Ari Bradshaw Candidate Connection
 
45.3
 
12,382
Danielle Hagen (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
0.2
 
43

Total votes: 27,321
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Wilmeth in this election.

Pledges

Wilmeth signed the following pledges.

  • U.S. Term Limits

2022

See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 (2 seats)

Incumbent Judy Schwiebert and incumbent Justin Wilmeth defeated Christian Lamar in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Judy Schwiebert
Judy Schwiebert (D)
 
35.2
 
40,130
Image of Justin Wilmeth
Justin Wilmeth (R) Candidate Connection
 
33.3
 
37,977
Image of Christian Lamar
Christian Lamar (R) Candidate Connection
 
31.5
 
35,987

Total votes: 114,094
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 (2 seats)

Incumbent Judy Schwiebert advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Judy Schwiebert
Judy Schwiebert
 
100.0
 
16,728

Total votes: 16,728
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 (2 seats)

Incumbent Justin Wilmeth and Christian Lamar defeated Pierce Waychoff in the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 2 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Justin Wilmeth
Justin Wilmeth Candidate Connection
 
36.7
 
12,298
Image of Christian Lamar
Christian Lamar Candidate Connection
 
35.0
 
11,736
Pierce Waychoff Candidate Connection
 
28.3
 
9,472

Total votes: 33,506
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign finance

Endorsements

To view Wilmeth's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

2020

See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 15 (2 seats)

Steve Kaiser and Justin Wilmeth defeated Kristin Dybvig-Pawelko in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 15 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Steve Kaiser
Steve Kaiser (R)
 
37.1
 
71,900
Image of Justin Wilmeth
Justin Wilmeth (R) Candidate Connection
 
34.3
 
66,482
Image of Kristin Dybvig-Pawelko
Kristin Dybvig-Pawelko (D)
 
28.5
 
55,259

Total votes: 193,641
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 15 (2 seats)

Kristin Dybvig-Pawelko advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 15 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kristin Dybvig-Pawelko
Kristin Dybvig-Pawelko
 
100.0
 
20,540

Total votes: 20,540
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 15 (2 seats)

Steve Kaiser and Justin Wilmeth defeated Jarret Hamstreet and Bill Spata in the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 15 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Steve Kaiser
Steve Kaiser
 
42.5
 
21,168
Image of Justin Wilmeth
Justin Wilmeth Candidate Connection
 
30.2
 
15,051
Jarret Hamstreet
 
27.2
 
13,522
Bill Spata (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
21

Total votes: 49,762
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

To view Wilmeth's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Justin Wilmeth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Candidate Connection

Justin Wilmeth completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wilmeth's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

In his early life, during the challenges and triumphs of the Reagan era, Justin developed a heart for conservative principles that have produced abundant prosperity. He was born in West Texas, where his family operated farmland and his father worked in the oil industry. He comes from a long line of tough, hardworking folks who instilled in him the importance of commitment, loyalty and understanding. Justin’s time on the family farm taught him the importance of pro-business, low-regulatory policy and what it means for economic prosperity.

Justin got his start in politics when he helped a friend run for office in 2004. Since then, he has served in various grassroots and policy positions in Oklahoma before moving to Phoenix to serve as a policy advisor for the Republican Caucus in the Arizona House of Representatives. Justin is a graduate from Arizona State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science as well as a Master’s in Public Administration.

Between his life experiences and education, Justin has proven to be an adept state legislator. He first won election to the House in 2020. In only one term at the Arizona House of Representatives, he was the prime sponsor of 18 bills that were signed into law. He set a record in the 2021 legislative session, seeing a whopping 8 of his sponsored bills signed into law, a first-year freshman record.
Matters related to commerce drive me the most. To keep Arizona grand, we must continue to be innovative on the economic front. Arizona has a great reputation as a business and economic powerhouse and I aim to keep it that way.

Transportation issues matter to me a bunch. We can't get anywhere without quality roads. Phoenix is a big city but the traffic here is fairly smooth most of the time. We must continue to invest in roads and bridges to keep Arizona moving.

Parental rights and medical freedom are important to me as well. The government doesn't need to coerce us!
Honesty. Stand up for your beliefs and let others know. They might not like what they hear, but at least they'll respect you for it.
In order: 1. Listen to your constituents; 2. Consider the wider needs of the state as a whole; 3. Vote your conscience
Challenger Explosion. I was 6 years old. I'll never forget that footage or President Reagan's speech.
A relationship of constant communication. The governor can only take action on bills passed by we here at the legislature. Holding meetings and conversations leading up to bills potentially getting signed will make the process flow better.
Water is the biggest. It's not the sexiest topic, but if we don't get the water situation figured out for the long term, the state will wither away. The investment in water we made this past session is a great step, but we must stay focused on long-term fixes.
While not necessary, it's not a bad thing. I was a legislative staffer for 12 years and that experience helped me to have a very solid rookie term as a representative for LD15.
Absolutely yes. Much like life, a good relationship at home, or at work, or at the legislature can mean the difference between a bill passing or failing. I have good relationships with many legislators and that has been beneficial.
It is a political question and should be in the hands of the state legislature.
This past term I was on the Commerce, Transportation and Health committees.

I enjoyed Commerce because the topics touched on business and economic matters that directly benefited Arizonans.

Transportation was interesting to me because we need to ensure we have solid investments in infrastructure so we can all get around.

Health was an honor to be a part of because topics here addressed matters that are truly life and death.
Jeff Weninger. I respect and appreciate his cool, calm and pragmatic nature. He was effective and a force. I hope to match that.
Goodness, I still can't believe I hold office now. I guess I'd be open to it, but I truly have my head set on eight years in the Legislature. I would be 49 at that point and then we would see where my life is at.
Rarely can one member or party get everything they want all at once. Reasonable and pragmatic compromise is often the route needed to get stuff done.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Candidate Connection

Justin Wilmeth completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wilmeth's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am running to ensure Arizona is friendly to business, commerce, and your individual liberties. I'm a limited government, pro-life, pro-freedom conservative. I was born in West Texas to a family involved in the oil and farming industries. My ancestors instilled in me the importance of commitment, loyalty, and hard work. My family's farms showed me the importance of having a pro-business environment so the economy can thrive. I got my start in politics/government in 2004. I served in state policy and grassroots positions in Oklahoma, immersing myself in how state laws impact us on a daily basis. Because of the amazing career and economic opportunities offered here, I left Oklahoma and decided to make Arizona home. I served at the Arizona House of Representatives as a policy advisor for the Republican caucus where I learned the needs and priorities of Arizonans across the state. I hold a BS in Political Science and a Master of Public Administration, both from Arizona State University. I intend to bring principled, conservative, visionary leadership to the Arizona House to protect and extend our bright future!
  • I want an Arizona friendly to individual liberties
  • I'm a life member of the NRA and 100 percent pro-2nd Amendment
  • I want to streamline state government wherever possible and reform the tax code to make it easier on everyday Arizonans
-- Commerce

-- Military Affairs and Public Safety

-- Transportation/Infrastructure
My three favorite American public servants are Calvin Coolidge, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. I look up to each of them for different reasons. I admire President Coolidge because he walked the walk when it came to keeping government small and unobtrusive. I grew up watching President Reagan on TV and I remember how happy, safe and optimistic he made me feel. As for Sen. Goldwater, I greatly admired his approach to government and his conservative, small government approach.
Barry Goldwater's "Conscience of a Conservative." Sen. Goldwater's values and beliefs are still core tenants of conservatism today and they will guide me as I work for the people of LD15.
That I was always reachable and worked hard for the constituents of LD15. It's important to me I stay open and relatable to the voters. I would want to be remembered as a guy who held office for the right reasons and did all he could for Arizonans.
The Challenger explosion. I was six years old at the time and so much had been mentioned about that particular shuttle mission because teacher Christa McAuliffe was on board. That evening, I remember watching President Reagan on TV saying the Challenger 7 had "slipped the surly bonds of Earth and touched the face of God."
It was at a Wendy's in Bethany, Oklahoma. I worked there for nine months until that location closed down. It was the perfect job for a teenager. I worked hard, but I enjoyed running the drive thru - and the discounted Frosty's.
1984. I first read it in high school and it has stuck with me ever since. It's important to me because it is a harrowing warning of what government could become if it were able to control your every waking thought and move. Socialistic totalitarianism is never the answer and Orwell showed that with striking storytelling.
While it's not required, yes, I do believe it is beneficial. As with any field, there are certain complexities to government and politics and it's handy to know what you're up against. As a former legislative staffer, I understand entirely what's ahead and have the know-how to be effective for LD15 from day one on the job.
-- Keeping up with population growth

-- Water issues

-- Border issues
Absolutely! It is vital. I'm blessed to have 12 endorsements from current Arizona state legislators and those relationships will assist LD15 getting the right kind of representation at the state Capitol.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Justin Wilmeth campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Arizona House of Representatives District 2Won general$175,705 $106,319
2022Arizona House of Representatives District 2Won general$154,683 $126,966
2020Arizona House of Representatives District 15Won general$62,077 N/A**
Grand total$392,464 $233,285
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Arizona

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Arizona scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024


2023


2022


2021






See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. LinkedIn, "Justin Wilmeth," accessed January 12, 2023
  2. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 12, 2020
  3. Justin Wilmeth 2022 campaign website, "About," accessed January 12, 2023


Current members of the Arizona House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Steve Montenegro
Majority Leader:Michael Carbone
Minority Leader:Oscar De Los Santos
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Lupe Diaz (R)
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Lisa Fink (R)
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