Wayne Waddell

Wayne Leo Waddell (born 1948) 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 (54%) to Boykin's, 2,278 (46%). 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.

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

Waddell is a member of Shreveport Rotary International and the Shreveport Symphony. He is married to the former Susan Marie Simpson (born January 31, 1948), and has two sons, Greg and Riley Waddell. Mrs. Waddell is a Caddo Parish Justice of the Peace.^[1]Wayne Waddell was also a JP for nearly two years prior to his legislative service. He is also a former member of the elected Caddo Parish Commission, formerly known as the police jury, on which he served from 1992-1996.

On August 1, 2010, Waddell resigned from the legislature in order to assume the position of director of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport.^[2] The museum directorship was vacated by Forrest Dunn, himself a former member of the Louisiana House. Waddell was succeeded in his former office by Republican attorney Alan Seabaugh.^[3]

The author is unable to determine if Waddell is related to First Circuit Court Judge and former District 4 state representative Robert P. "Bobby" Waddell of Shreveport.

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