# Tara Shephard

Tara Shephard is a Democratic member of the Arkansas House for district 79.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Arkansas House, district 79
- Serving since: 2023-01-09
- Current term: AR 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/18f06e22-dd2c-4247-81c8-a40938de3ea1

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/18f06e22-dd2c-4247-81c8-a40938de3ea1 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Shephard sits at −0.25 on the CSIP scale, more conservative than 95% of State House Democrats.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.25 (standard error 0.02), from 163 donors and 285 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 95% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Legislation (AR 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 11 bills: 11 reached committee, 2 passed one chamber, 2 passed both, 2 became law. Cosponsored 19. 18.2% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Arkansas House 56.1%; rank 73 of 81).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SB 632: TO AMEND THE FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT; AND TO REQUIRE WARNING LABELS FOR HAIR RELAXERS THAT CONTAIN CERTAIN CHEMICALS. (became law, 2025-04-22) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/SB632/
- HCR 1010: REQUESTING A STUDY OF WAYS TO IMPROVE THE STATE'S JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM FOR YOUTH. (in committee, 2025-04-17) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HCR1010/
- HB 1755: TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ARKANSAS PREVENTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY. (in committee, 2025-05-05) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HB1755/
- HR 1057: TO RECOGNIZE THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN, CENTRAL ARKANSAS BRANCH, FOR ADVANCING GENDER EQUITY FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS THROUGH RESEARCH,… (in committee, 2025-03-18) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HR1057/
- HCR 1005: TO HONOR THE ARKANSAS MINORITY HEALTH COMMISSION DURING AMERICAN HEART MONTH IN FEBRUARY FOR ITS EFFORTS TO ADDRESS HEART DISEASE AMONG THE MINORITY… (in committee, 2025-05-05) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HCR1005/
- HR 1041: TO HONOR DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, INC., FOR ITS ROLE IN THE 1913 WOMAN SUFFRAGE PROCESSION AND THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION MARCH, AND ITS ADVOCACY FOR THE… (in committee, 2025-03-03) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HR1041/
- HR 1033: TO RECOGNIZE THE ARKANSAS MILITARY AND FIRST RESPONDERS ACADEMY DURING CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION MONTH FOR PREPARING STUDENTS FOR CAREERS IN THE MILITARY… (in committee, 2025-02-17) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HR1033/
- HR 1020: TO RECOGNIZE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2025, AS THE LINKS LEGISLATIVE DAY AT THE STATE CAPITOL, AND TO RECOGNIZE THE LINKS, INCORPORATED FOR ITS SERVICE AND… (in committee, 2025-02-03) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HR1020/
- HR 1016: TO RECOGNIZE FEBRUARY 10, 2025, AS KIDS COUNT DAY AT THE STATE CAPITOL, AND TO RECOGNIZE THE ARKANSAS KIDS COUNT COALITION FOR ITS ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF THE… (in committee, 2025-02-10) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HR1016/
- SCR 3: TO URGE THE ARKANSAS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT TAX ACT TO WAIVE THE "REASONABLE ASSURANCE" CLAUSE. (in committee, 2025-05-05) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/SCR3/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $80.0K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 96% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://www.arkansashouse.org/district/79
- Campaign site: https://www.taraforarkansas.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaraForArkansas
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarashephard4ar/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-shephard-6a18a665/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/18f06e22-dd2c-4247-81c8-a40938de3ea1