Mander is the member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Everton, having been elected at the 2012 Queensland state election by defeating Labor's Murray Watt (the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer). Mander was appointed Assistant Minister for Sport and Racing on 3 April 2012.[5] He was promoted to Minister of Housing and Public Works on 19 November 2012, following the resignation of Bruce Flegg.
Following poor opinion polling for LNP leader Lawrence Springborg, Mander initiated a leadership challenge against him, and former Treasurer Tim Nicholls also nominated for the position. In the first round, Mander received only 10 votes, against Nicholls' 14 and Springborg's 17, and was therefore eliminated. Nicholls eventually prevailed with 22 votes to Springborg's 19 and was sworn in as Opposition Leader on 6 May 2016.[6]