Wayne Waddell

Who is Wayne Waddell?

Wayne Leo Waddell is a Shreveport businessman and a Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 5 in Caddo Parish. He was unopposed in the 2007 nonpartisan blanket primary but resigned before he completed his third term in the body.

Waddell brought early voting to Louisiana, empowering parish clerks of court to permit voting in shopping centers and public buildings where voters congregate. Previously, Louisiana had more restrictive absentee voting. Waddell 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 Shreveport representative-turned-Judge Roy Louis Brun. He defeated fellow Republican and former Caddo Parish School Board member, the conservative Judy Boykin, supported by the Christian Coalition. Waddell polled 2,710 votes to Boykin's, 2,278. In the legislature, he served on the Health and Welfare committee, 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 chair of the Louisiana Rural Caucus.