Matthew Joseph Shepherd (born February 21, 1976) is an attorney from his native El Dorado, Arkansas, who is a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for District 6, which includes western Union County. He was elected in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 legislative races. Upon the resignation of Speaker Jeremy Gillam in June 2018, he was elected Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives for the 91st General Assembly. He was re-elected in January 2019 to serve as Speaker of the 92nd General Assembly. In May 2020, Arkansas House members elected him as Speaker-designate for the 93rd General Assembly. In 2010, Shepherd claimed the District 6 seat by defeating Democrat Ken Bridges, 4,780 to 2,074. In 2012, still in the reorganized District 6, Shepherd won a second term, defeating Independent Peter Cyphers, 10,051 to 2,149. Biography 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 at Fayetteville. Shepherd is a practising attorney at El Dorado-based law firm Shepherd and Shepherd. Personal life Shepherd is married and has three children. See also List of speakers of the Arkansas House of Representatives References |- 1976 births 21st-century American politicians Arkansas lawyers Baptists from Arkansas Living people Ouachita Baptist University alumni People from El Dorado, Arkansas Speakers of the Arkansas House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives University of Arkansas School of Law alumni