HD-65 STAFF
Ruth Mesta, Chief of Staff
Ruth Mesta will head up the team for Rep. Thimesch after serving as Chief of Staff for Rep. Ben Leman (R-Iola), who chose not to run for re-election in 2022. Prior to serving as Rep. Leman’s chief, Ruth was his legislative director. She also worked in the office of Rep. Mark J. Keough (R-The Woodlands) for the 85th and 84th legislative sessions, as well as in the district office of Rep. Stefani Carter (R-Dallas). Ruth has North Texas roots, as a graduate of University of Texas at Dallas and J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson.
Jefferson Lines, Legislative Director
The 88th will be Jefferson's first legislative session, but he is no stranger to Texas politics. A native of HD-65, Jefferson graduated from Flower Mound High School and then Texas Tech University with a B.A. in Philosophy. After Tech, he went to Senator John Cornyn's Denton County campaign team, serving as regional field director for the 2020 cycle. In 2022, Jefferson was the Deputy State Director for Texas Victory, where he coordinated field and regional engagement for 150+ counties, overseeing the outreach to over 1.5 million voters for a broad swath of campaigns from Congressional to local.
​
Symphony Rojas, Legislative Aide
Symphony has "crossed over", coming to Rep. Thimesch's office in the House after serving as an intern for Senator Jane Nelson and as a Senate Messenger (during which she got to experience both 87(R) and 87(1st C.S.). During the 87th interim she also was a summer intern with Texans for Greg Abbott. Symphony is studying government and political statistics at the University of Texas-Austin, where she has leadership roles in the Texas chapter of Chi Omega as well as UT Panhellenic.
​
Alejandro Coronel, Legislative Intern
Working in the 88th Legislature as part of the Texas Tech intern program, Alejandro has just earned his BBA with a marketing focus, graduating magna cum laude in December 2022. As part of his studies in the College of Business, he did an independent reserch project on the topic of college students' credit card debt. Originally from El Paso, Alejandro graduated from Eastwood HS before heading to Tech; he is the first generation of his family to get a college degree. Rep. Thimesch and Jefferson were especially excited to bring Alejandro to the HD-65 team, giving Texas Tech the majority in the office for alma mater representation.
​