J. D. Sheffield

The 2010 election was Sheffield's first campaign for local or state office. He had served in student government during college. In the Republican primary in 2010, Sheffield polled 44.2 percent in his challenge to incumbent Sid Miller who had held the office since 2001.[5]

Two years after his unsuccessful challenge to Miller, Sheffield gained the Republican nomination with 54.8 percent of the ballots cast.[6] Sheffield easily won in the November general election with 78% of the vote district wide against Bill Norris, the Democratic nominee and a retired school teacher from Dublin.[7] Norris had effectively dropped out of the race due to health reasons but remained on the ballot.

Because Sheffield and an adjoining Republican state representative, Ralph Sheffield, a restaurateur from Temple, share surnames, voters in both districts often confuse the lawmakers though they are unrelated.[8] Ralph lost his reelection bid in 2014.

Sheffield won re-nomination to a second term in the Republican primary held on March 4, 2014. He defeated the more conservative Danny Wayne Pelton (born 1958), a medical equipment salesman and rancher from Hico. A former Erath County Republican chairman and a member of the Texas Republican Executive Committee,[9] Pelton was allied with former Representative Sid Miller and recruited Miller's long-time campaign consultant, Todd Smith, to manage Pelton's campaign against Sheffield.[8] Sheffield polled 9,389 votes (60.9 percent) to Pelton's 4,798 (31.1 percent), and 1,225 votes (7.9 percent) for a third contender, Howard "Eddie" Ray.[10]

Brent Graves, an auctioneer from Stephenville, ran against Sheffield for the Republican nomination in 2016. Graves lost to Sheffield 61% to 38%, district wide. Sheffield ran unopposed in the general election[11]

In 2018, Sheffield defeated Chris Evans in the Republican primary. Sheffield ran unopposed in the general election.[11][12]

On July 14, 2020, Sheffield was defeated in his re-election effort by Stephenville, Texas attorney Shelby Slawson by over 20% in the Republican primary runoff.[4][2] Slawson does not have an opponent in the 2020 general election.[11]

During his time in the Legislature, Sheffield served on the Texas House committees of Appropriations, Corrections, Public Health, Rules and Resolutions.[13]

In his first legislative session in 2013, Sheffield voted to forbid abortion after twenty weeks of gestation and to increase medical requirements and licensing of abortion providers. He supported a taxpayer-funded breakfast program for public schools; the measure passed the House, 73-58. Sheffield supported legislation to provide marshals for school security. He sponsored the law authorizing the immunization of minors without parental consent, a measure which the House approved, 71-61. He co-sponsored the law to extend the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. Sheffield voted to prohibit texting while driving and to require testing for narcotics of those receiving unemployment compensation. He voted for a bill relating to unlawful employment practices regarding discrimination in the payment of compensation, which passed the House, 78-61. He voted to forbid the state from enforcing federal regulations of firearms and in support of another law allowing college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in the name of campus security. He voted for term limits for certain officials.[14]