Wayne Waddell

Leo Wayne Waddell (born October 14, 1948) is a Shreveport businessman and a Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 5 in Caddo Parish. He ran unopposed in the 2007 nonpartisan blanket primary but resigned before he completed his third term in the body.

Background

Waddell graduated from C. E. Byrd High School in Shreveport and received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as 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. Married to the former Susan Marie Simpson (born January 31, 1948), he has two sons, Greg and Riley Waddell.

Political life

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 for the term from 1992 to 1996.

Waddell first won his position as a state representative in a special election runoff held on December 13, 1997, to replace Shreveport representative-turned-Judge Roy 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 percent) to Boykin's, 2,278 (46 percent). 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 and North Louisiana Subcommittee. He has been vice chair of the Louisiana Rural Caucus. 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, which required an excuse to cast a ballot prior to the election. Waddell supported a plan to exempt Louisiana residents from owing state income taxes on retirement payments.

On August 1, 2010, Waddell resigned from the legislature 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]

In addition to the Shreveport museum, Waddell is the regional state administrator under Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, in which capacity he oversees six other state museums. From 2010 through 2015, he secured $8 million from the Louisiana capital outlay budget for three construction projects, one of which is the covering for the museum courtyard. Waddell has also stressed fundraising and interactive and educational experiences for museum visitors and visitors. State Senator Gregory Tarver, a Democrat, said that Waddell "knows how to go out and beg for money, and you literally have to beg ... It is not an easy task. And, he gives you information you need to know so (you) can make an intelligent decision about money.”^[4]

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, a Democrat. The two men are the same age.

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