Wayne Waddell

Infobox_State Representative
name= Wayne Leo Waddell


caption= State Representative Wayne Leo Waddell, Shreveport Republican
office= Louisiana State Representative from Caddo Parish (District 5)
term_start= 1997
term_end=
preceded= Roy Louis Brun
succeeded=Unopposed in open primary on October 20, 2007
office2= Caddo Parish Commission
term_start2= 1992
term_end2= 1996
birth_date= 1948
birth_place= Shreveport, Louisiana
spouse= Susan Simpson Waddell
party= Republican
occupation= Businessman

Wayne Leo Waddell (born 1948) is a Shreveport businessman and a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 5 (Caddo Parish). He was unopposed for a third full term in the jungle primary on October 20, 2007.

Waddell is particularly known as the legislator who brought early voting to Louisiana by which parish clerks of court are empowered to permit voting in places, such as shopping centers or public buildings, where voters often congregate. Previously, Louisiana had only the more restricted absentee voting. Waddell has also supported a plan to exempt Louisiana residents from owing state income taxes on retirement payments.

Waddell first won his position in a special election runoff held on December 13, 1997, to replace Representative-turned-Judge Roy Louis Brun, also of Shreveport. He defeated fellow Republican and former Caddo Parish School Board member, the conservative Judy Boykin, who secured the support of the area Christian Coalition. Waddell polled 2,710 votes (54 percent) to Boykin's, 2,278 (46 percent). Boykin had led in the primary with 2,013 votes (41 percent) to Waddell's 1,805 (37 percent). In the second balloting, Waddell increased his vote by some nine hundred, but Boykin gained only two hundred additional votes.

Waddell is a graduate of C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport. He received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana University). He has been the president of Louisiana Moulding & Supply, Inc., since 1980 and the owner of KD Plastics since 1995 and Waddell's Gallery of Distinction since 1970.

In the legislature, he has served on these committees: Health and Welfare, House Legislative Services Council, Joint Legislative Committee on Capital Outlay, House Special Committee on Disaster Planning, and the Middle & North Louisiana Subcommittee. He has been vice chairman of the Louisiana Rural Caucus.

He is a member of Shreveport Rotary International and the Shreveport Symphony. He is married to the former Susan Simpson.

Waddell was a justice of the peace for nearly two years prior to his legislative service. He was also a member of the elected Caddo Parish Commission from 1992-1996.

References

http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/members.asp?ID=5 http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=BLA49481 http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070726/NEWS01/707260333/1002http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=11159709http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=12139709