# Matthew Shepherd

Matthew Shepherd is a Republican member of the Arkansas House for district 97.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Arkansas House, district 97
- Serving since: 2011-01-10
- Current term: AR 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/2774b34a-6b89-4ee9-b8af-32b7a7d8e174

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/2774b34a-6b89-4ee9-b8af-32b7a7d8e174 (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

Shepherd sits at −1.39 on the CSIP scale, more liberal than 100% of State House Republicans.

## What Shepherd says (AR 2025–26 session)

25 classified statements: 25 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Shepherd | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.9% | 642 of 791 |
| Policy criticism | 0.0% | 9.3% | 735 of 791 |
| Policy discussion | 16.0% | 31.9% | 633 of 791 |
| Bipartisanship | 4.0% | 1.8% | 101 of 791 |
| Credit claiming | 20.0% | 12.7% | 176 of 791 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.4% | 618 of 791 |

Most discussed policy areas: Emergency Management 25% (State House Republicans 2.8%); International Affairs 25% (State House Republicans 1.8%); Taxation 25% (State House Republicans 8.1%); Transportation and Public Works 25% (State House Republicans 4.4%); Agriculture and Food 0% (State House Republicans 4.4%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −1.39 (standard error 0.04), from 190 donors and 444 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 0.0% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Legislation (AR 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 25 bills: 25 reached committee, 21 passed one chamber, 21 passed both, 21 became law. Cosponsored 46. 84.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Arkansas House 56.1%; rank 9 of 81).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SB 597: TO CREATE THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF THREAT OF HARM UPON A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION EMPLOYEE. (became law, 2025-04-18) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/SB597/
- HB 1917: TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS STUDENT-ATHLETE PUBLICITY RIGHTS ACT; AND TO AMEND THE LAW RELATED TO ATHLETIC PROGRAM FUNDING. (became law, 2025-04-17) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HB1917/
- HB 1833: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ADMISSIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLEGE OF MEDICINE. (became law, 2025-04-17) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HB1833/
- HB 1831: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE USE OF SETTLEMENT FUNDS BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. (became law, 2025-04-16) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HB1831/
- SB 511: TO CREATE THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE IMPAIRMENT. (became law, 2025-04-18) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/SB511/
- HB 1832: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT AND COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS; AND TO AMEND A RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT AND COURT OF APPEALS UNDER THE… (became law, 2025-04-22) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HB1832/
- HB 1830: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE PROCUREMENT OF CONTINGENCY FEE CONTRACTS BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. (became law, 2025-04-16) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/HB1830/
- SB 512: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING ROBBERY AND AGGRAVATED ROBBERY. (became law, 2025-04-18) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/SB512/
- SB 513: TO CREATE THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF MAIL THEFT; AND TO CREATE THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF THEFT OR UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION OF A MAIL RECEPTACLE KEY OR LOCK. (became law, 2025-04-18) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/SB513/
- SB 514: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A SKIMMER; AND TO INCREASE PENALTIES FOR THE UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A SKIMMER FOR REPEAT OFFENDERS. (became law, 2025-04-18) https://openstates.org/ar/bills/2025/SB514/

## Campaign money (2024 cycle)

Itemized receipts $145.3K (State House Republicans median $10.7K). 97% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-09-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2103659165709221905
- 2026-08-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2090882674730705046
- 2026-05-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2059024825704718712
- 2026-05-06 · Post on X · labels: credit claiming · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2052175484729835813
- 2026-05-04 · Post on X · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2051130566561444133
- 2026-05-03 · Post on X · labels: credit claiming · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2051020481210298822
- 2026-04-27 · Post on X · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2048585102003687521
- 2026-03-16 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, bipartisanship, credit claiming · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2033600885801078958
- 2026-03-15 · Post on X · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2033261479655334012
- 2026-03-04 · Post on X · https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd AR_HouseSpeaker/status/2029023850172739760

## Links

- Official site: https://www.arkansashouse.org/district/97
- Campaign site: https://matthewshepherd.org/
- X: https://x.com/Matt_J_Shepherd
- X: https://x.com/AR_HouseSpeaker
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.shepherd.758
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Matthew-Shepherd-100057731366188/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewjshepherd/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/2774b34a-6b89-4ee9-b8af-32b7a7d8e174