David Jeffrey Whitaker (born April 8, 1961) is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...

for the 85th district. Whitaker was a candidate for Arkansas's 3rd congressional district in the 2010 election.

Early life and education

Raised in Georgia, Whitaker graduated from

Granby High School Granby High School (originally Granby Street High School) is a public high school in Norfolk, Virginia. The school is part of the Norfolk Public Schools system. It is the only high school in the school division that offers an Internationa ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. Whitaker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography from University of Mary Washington and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the University of Arkansas School of Law.

Career

He served in the United States Air Force from 1983 to 1989 reaching the rank of

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervi ...

. While in the Air Force he served aboard the USNS ''Observation Island'' (T-AGM-23). In 1992 he was an editorial research intern with the book division of the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.LinkedIn profile
/ref> During law school, he clerked for the Washington County prosecuting attorney and served on his law school's honor council.Whitaker bio (Congressional Campaign)
/ref> From 1999 to 2000 he served on the Washington County Domestic Violence Task Force.REELECT Representative David Whitaker to Arkansas House District 85
/ref> From 2001 to 2009 he served as an assistant city attorney for

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...

. From 2007 to 2009 he served as the chairman of the Washington County Democratic Party. From 2011 to 2013 he was a member of the adjunct faculty at Northwest Arkansas Community College. In 2013 he was elected to the

to represent the 85th District defeating Paul Graham.

Personal life

He resides in

with his wife, Lisa and their two daughters.Whitaker bio (new)
/ref>

Elections

*2012 With District 85 incumbent Representative John Burris redistricted to District 98, Whitaker won the May 22, 2012 Democratic Primary with 1,264 votes (74.1%), and won the November 6, 2012 General election with 6,450 votes (56.0%) against Republican nominee Paul Graham. *2010 When Arkansas's 3rd Congressional District Representative John Boozman ran for United States Senate, Whitaker was unopposed for the May 18, 2010 Democratic Primary but lost the November 2, 2010 General election Republican nominee Steve Womack.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Campaign site
*
David Whitaker
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

David Whitaker
at the National Institute on Money in State Politics {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, David 1961 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives Place of birth missing (living people) Politicians from Fayetteville, Arkansas United States Air Force airmen University of Arkansas School of Law alumni University of Mary Washington alumni