Robert P. "Bobby" Waddell

Robert Paul Waddell, Sr., known as Robert P. "Bobby" Waddell (born May 19, 1948), has been a judge of the First Judicial District based in Shreveport, Louisiana, since 1990. He holds the Section 3, Division A slot on the court and was unopposed for reelection in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 4, 2008.^[1]

From 1980-1990, Waddell was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He ran unopposed in 1983.

In 1987, Waddell's only opponent, former State Senator Cecil K. Carter, Jr., died of a heart attack in his car after he had attended a campaign forum.^[2]

Waddell resigned his House seat in 1990 upon his election as a judge. Waddell's interim successor was Republican Tommy G. Armstrong,^[3] who had earlier served from 1987 to 1989 as the president of the Caddo Parish Commission, the governing board of Caddo Parish. Armstrong did not seek the District 4 seat in 1992, as the district lines were changed under the 1990 census so that a Republican had little likelihood of winning the post. He therefore ran for the Louisiana State Senate and was narrowly defeated by fellow Republican Ron Bean.^[4]

Waddell has been active in fundraising for the museum of the former Mansfield Female College in Mansfield, the seat of De Soto Parish. In 1930, the female college merged into Methodist-affiliated Centenary College in Shreveport.^[5]

Waddell is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. He and his wife, the former Sharon Roxanne Rains (born February 21, 1956), have three children, Robert Waddell, Jr., Sharon Elizabeth Waddell, and Erin Leigh Waddell.^[6]

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