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Bill Gossage
Bill Gossage was a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, representing District 82. He was first elected to the chamber in 2012. He resigned from his office in late August 2016, and took a new position as Governor Asa Hutchinson's deputy chief of staff on September 1, 2016.[1]
After Gossage resigned, Sarah Capp was named as the replacement candidate for District 82 of the state House in the general election. Since Capp was named less than 76 days before the election, Gossage stayed on the ballot and his votes counted for Capp.[2]
Biography
Gossage earned his B.S. in history and political science from Arkansas Tech University in 1979 and his M.S. in counseling from the University of Arkansas in 1991. His professional experience includes working as an educator in various positions for 31 years.[3]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Gossage served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • Insurance and Commerce |
| • Management, Chair |
| • Rules |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Gossage served on the following committees:
Campaign themes
2014
Gossage's campaign website listed the following issues:[4]
Second Amendment Rights
- Excerpt: "The right to keep and bear arms is designed to safeguard freedom so that no government can take away from you the rights which God has given you. Our Constitution is a sacred contract with the people that provides a means for us to keep ourselves safe and free."
Obamacare
- Excerpt: "We have had such great healthcare in America because the markets have been successful in providing us with the best healthcare in the world."
Taxes
- Excerpt: "Taxation in Arkansas controls the size of government because we are required to always have a balanced budget. If tax revenues decrease, so does state government. I support lowering of the income tax rates so that working Arkansans can take more money home to spend or save as they choose."
Jobs
- Excerpt: "Arkansas has the potential to become a leader in economic growth. Our state has not had the reputation as a business friendly state and that has to change. Our citizens have a great work ethic, we have an improving education system, and we have great natural resources."
Life
- Excerpt: "For those of us in the pro-life movement, the right to life is a foundational issue guaranteed in our Constitution. The concept of inalienable rights was that what God had given man, the government could not take away."
Note: Gossage's campaign themes did not change from 2012.
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
Ballotpedia's analysis revealed that only 42 of the 100 seats up for election in 2016 involved competition between Democrats and Republicans. This made it numerically impossible for Democrats to take control of either Arkansas legislative chamber in 2016.
The reason for the low competition was that candidates were in safe districts for their parties. Between 1972 and 2014, an upward trend in uncontested state legislative elections occurred.
The Democratic Party of Arkansas focused its 2016 efforts on the state’s House of Representatives. Without the numbers to win the state Senate, H.L. Moody, communications director for the Democratic Party of Arkansas, told Ballotpedia that the party’s goal was to “start building back where we can,” beginning with the House.
Ballotpedia spoke to political analyst Richard Winger, who said that the early primary deadline for the 2016 elections was a possible factor as well, making it difficult for Democrats to recruit candidates early.
The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing period began at noon local time on November 2, 2015, and ended at noon local time on November 9, 2015.[5] Incumbent Bill Gossage resigned from the state House in late August. Sarah Capp was named as the replacement candidate for District 82. Since Capp was named less than 76 days before the election, Gossage stayed on the ballot and his votes counted for Capp.[6]
Sarah Capp ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 82 general election.[7]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 82 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Sarah Capp (unopposed) | |
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State | ||
Incumbent Bill Gossage ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 82 Republican Primary.[8][9]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 82 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Bill Gossage Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for the Arkansas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014; a runoff election took place where necessary on June 10, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 3, 2014. Incumbent Bill Gossage was unopposed in the Republican primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[10][11]
2012
Gossage ran in the 2012 election for Arkansas House of Representatives, District 82. Gossage ran unopposed in the May 22 Republican primary and defeated Leslee Milam Post (D) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[12][13][14]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bill Gossage |
63.5% | 6,804 | |
| Democratic | Leslee Milam Post | 36.5% | 3,909 | |
| Total Votes | 10,713 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Arkansas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2016
In 2016, the 90th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from April 13 through May 9. The Legislature held a three-day special session from April 6 to April 8 over healthcare. The Legislature held a second special session from May 19 to May 23 over transportation.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2015, the 90th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 2.
|
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2014, the Arkansas General Assembly was in session from February 10 to March 20. Ballotpedia staff did not find any state legislative scorecards published for this state in 2014. If you are aware of one, please contact editor@ballotpedia.org to let us know. |
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2013, the 89th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 14 through May 17.
|
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Gossage and his wife, Tonya, have one son.[3]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Bill + Gossage + Arkansas + House"
See also
- Arkansas House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Arkansas State Legislature
- Arkansas state legislative districts
External links
- Office website
- Campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Political Summary from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Facebook page
- Twitter feed
- Campaign contributions via OpenSecrets
Footnotes
- ↑ KATV.com, "Arkansas lawmaker stepping down to work for governor," accessed September 19, 2016
- ↑ Arkansas Online, "GOP picks Ozark's Capp for state House seat," accessed September 23, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed April 9, 2014
- ↑ billgossage.com, "The Issues," accessed April 9, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Election Dates," accessed November 17, 2015
- ↑ Arkansas Online, "GOP picks Ozark's Capp for state House seat," accessed September 23, 2016
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election and Nonpartisan Runoff Election," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed July 25, 2016
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Results," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed March 5, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed June 26, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Election Results 2012," accessed November 7, 2012
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2012 Election candidates," March 8, 2012
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ Ballotpedia, "Arkansas's Freedom Scorecard," accessed July 10, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lori Benedict (R) |
Arkansas House of Representatives District 82 2013–2016 |
Succeeded by Sarah Capp (R) |
