Senator John Kavanagh Contact information

John Kavanagh, born on June 5, 1950, is an American politician who has served in both houses of the Arizona State Legislature since 2007. He is currently representing the 3rd legislative district in the Arizona Senate since 2023. Kavanagh represented District 23 in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015, District 8 from 2007 to 2013, and District 23 from 2019 to 2023.

Before his political career, Kavanagh was a police officer with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and retired as a detective sergeant, after 20 years of service. He is currently a professor of criminal justice at Scottsdale Community College (AZ), where he is Program Director of the Administration of Justice Studies and Forensic Science Programs.

The grandson of Irish and German immigrants who came to Ellis Island in the early 20th century, he was born in Queens, New York. John Kavanagh earned his BA in liberal arts from New York University, his MA in government from St. John’s University, and his PhD in criminal justice from Rutgers University.

Kavanagh was a Port Authority Police Officer for 20 years and retired as a detective sergeant. He served at Kennedy Airport, where he was also on the crash crew, the Port Authority Bus Terminal in the Times Square area of New York City and also taught in the police academy.

Upon retiring from the Port Authority Police, Kavanagh moved to Fountain Hills, Arizona and taught as an adjunct and later full-time instructor at Arizona State University for several years and then was a professor of criminal justice and program director at Scottsdale Community for 15 years. He retired from SCC in 2017 but teaches there as an adjunct.

In terms of his political career, he was elected to the Arizona State Senate in District 23, defeating Democrat Paula Pennypacker, and replacing Sen. Michele Reagan, who was elevated to Secretary of State in the same election. He was redistricted to District 23 alongside incumbent Representative Michelle Ugenti, and with incumbent Republican Representatives John Fillmore running for Arizona Senate and Frank Pratt redistricted to District 8, Kavanagh ran alongside Representative Ugenti in the three-way August 28, 2012 Republican Primary; Kavanagh placed first with 20,922 votes and Representative Ugenti placed second; they were unopposed for the November 6, 2012 General election, where Representative Ugenti took the first seat and Kavanagh took the second seat with 68,827 votes.