Jeffrey Reed "Jeff" Wardlaw (born August 25, 1980) is a farmer from Hermitage in Bradley County in south

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

who is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for District 8, which he has represented since 2011. His district includes

Calhoun John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was the 7th vice president of the United States. Calhoun can also refer to: Surname * Calhoun (surname) Inhabited places in the United States *Calhoun, Georgia *Calhoun, Illinois * Calhoun, Kansas * Calhoun, Kentuc ...

and Bradley counties and parts of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

counties.

Background

Wardlaw graduated from Hermitage High School in Hermitage in Bradley County and then the

University of Arkansas at Monticello The University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) is a public university in Monticello, Arkansas with Colleges of Technology in Crossett and McGehee. UAM is part of the University of Arkansas System and offers master's degrees, baccalaureate degre ...

, at which he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture. He enjoys

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

and fishing and is a member of the Rotary Club.

Career

Wardlaw owns and operates Wardlaw Brothers Farms, Inc., in Hermitage. He is a former vice chairman of the

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...

Freshman Caucus, and received the "Legislator of the Year" award from the Arkansas Forestry Association. He is a member of the Public Health Committee and the Insurance and Commerce Committee, of which he is chairman of the Insurance Subcommittee. Wardlaw is a member of the Bradley County Chamber of Commerce board of directors and Bradley County Industrial Development Commission. Wardlaw had been mentioned as a potential Democratic candidate for

Arkansas's 4th congressional district Arkansas's 4th congressional district is a congressional district located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Arkansas. Notable towns in the district include Camden, Hope, Hot Springs, Magnolia, Pine Bluff, and Texarkana. The di ...

seat vacated in 2015 by since freshman U.S. Senator

Tom Cotton Thomas Bryant Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician, attorney, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator for Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the U.S. House of ...

. However, Wardlaw instead ran without opposition for a fourth term in the state House in 2016, but he switched parties a week after the general election. Wardlaw's fellow representative Mike Holcomb of Jefferson County, who, like Wardlaw, represents Cleveland County, had switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party three months earlier, in August 2016. Like Wardlaw, he too cited differences with the party on social issues as a main factor in his decision.

References

External links

Wardlaw's Twitter accountWardlaw's sponsored bills and committee assignments
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardlaw, Jeff 1980 births Living people University of Arkansas alumni Arkansas Democrats Arkansas Republicans School board members in Arkansas Members of the Arkansas House of Representatives People from Bradley County, Arkansas 21st-century American politicians American United Methodists