Matthew Shepherd

Matthew Joseph Shepherd
Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from the 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2011
Preceded by	John Lowery, Jr.
Personal details
Born	1976 El Dorado, Union County Arkansas, USA
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Alie Shepherd
Children	Eli, Mary Kate, Libby Shepherd
Residence	El Dorado, Arkansas
Alma mater	Ouachita Baptist University University of Arkansas School of Law
Occupation	Lawyer
Religion	Southern Baptist

Matthew Joseph Shepherd (born 1976) is an attorney from his native El Dorado, Arkansas, who is a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from District 6, which includes western Union County. He was elected in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 legislative elections^[1] and is term-limited in 2016.

In 2010, Shepherd claimed the District 6 seat by defeating the Democrat Ken Bridges, 4,780 to 2,074.^[2] In 2012, still in the reorganized District 6, Shepherd to gain a second term defeated the Independent Peter Cyphers, 10,051 to 2,149.^[3]

Shepherd graduated in 1998 from the Southern Baptist-affiliated Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia in South Arkansas. In 2001, he received the Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville. He and his wife, Alie, have three children, Eli, Mary Kate, and Libby.^[4]

Shepherd endorsed Asa Hutchinson for governor of Arkansas in 2014. In his second bid for the office in 2014, after his defeat in 2006 by Democrat Mike Beebe, Hutchinson defeated former U.S. Representative Mike Ross of Arkansas's 4th congressional district.

References

1. "Matthew J. Shepherd, R-6". Arkansashouse.org. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
2. "House District 6 election returns, 2010". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
3. "House District 6 election returns, 2012". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
4. "Representative Matthew Shepherd's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved September 12, 2013.