Wayne Willems
Wayne Willems (Libertarian Party) ran for election to the Arkansas House of Representatives to represent District 15. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Willems completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Willems was a Libertarian candidate who sought election to the same seat in 2018. He lost the general election on November 6, 2018.
Willems was a 2016 Libertarian candidate for District 15 of the Arkansas House of Representatives. He previously ran for the seat in 2014.
Biography
Willems grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. His professional experience includes founding Little Rock Entertainment Company.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Arkansas House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 15
Incumbent Ken Bragg defeated Wayne Willems in the general election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 15 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ken Bragg (R) | 84.9 | 11,074 |
 | Wayne Willems (L)  | 15.1 | 1,970 | |
| Total votes: 13,044 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Ken Bragg advanced from the Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 15.
Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Wayne Willems advanced from the Libertarian primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 15.
2018
General election
General election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 15
Incumbent Ken Bragg defeated Wayne Willems in the general election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 15 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ken Bragg (R) | 84.9 | 7,892 |
| Wayne Willems (L) | 15.1 | 1,400 | |
| Total votes: 9,292 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 15
Incumbent Ken Bragg advanced from the Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 15 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Ken Bragg |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
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.[2]
Incumbent Ken Bragg defeated Wayne Willems in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 15 general election.[3]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 15 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Ken Bragg Incumbent |
83.06% | 9,816 | |
| Libertarian | Wayne Willems | 16.94% | 2,002 | |
| Total Votes | 11,818 | |||
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Ken Bragg ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 15 Republican Primary.[4][5]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 15 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Ken Bragg 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 Ken Bragg was unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated Wayne Willems (L) in the general election.[6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ken Bragg Incumbent |
83.3% | 7,346 | |
| Libertarian | Wayne Willems | 16.7% | 1,477 | |
| Total Votes | 8,823 | |||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Wayne Willems completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Willems' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
Honestly, I feel the two major political parties in our state and not working for the same goal, and that goal should always be for the People. The first and foremost duty of the government is to protect individual rights. The People of Arkansas should not be placed on the backburner while special interest groups and corporations take the front seat.
If I am elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives, I will commit myself to the duty of helping reduce the size of the Arkansas government, protecting God-given rights, eliminating unjust laws, regulations, and restrictions that hinder the People of our great state of Arkansas.- More freedom and less government is a vital aspect for a free and vibrant society.
- The People of Arkansas should always have a hand and a voice in every aspect of the government. The government should be 100% transparent.
- The voters of Arkansas should have more options during elections. The People deserve a multiple of chooses, not just two political parties. Let there be multiple political parties and independent candidates without restrictions.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2014
Willems' website highlighted the following campaign themes:[8]
Smaller Government
- Excerpt: "I for one support a Republican form of government, which is mentioned in the Constitution for the United States of America. More Freedom, Less Government in our lives maximizes more prosperity and harmony for the people."
The 2nd Amendment
- Excerpt: "I too support Article 2 - Section 5 and the 2nd Amendment 100% and will fight against any past, current laws or future legislation that tries to infringe on this divine right to protect ourselves."
Eliminating Income & Property Taxes
- Excerpt: "I believe eliminating the state income tax and property tax would lessen the burden on Arkansas individuals and families. My proposal would be to replace the state income tax and property tax with a 3 or 4 cent increase on the "Sales Tax" for goods and services."
Right To Own Property
- Excerpt: "The very foundation of Freedom and Liberty is Property, you can have neither without the other. As it now stands, we are tenants on the property we all dwell upon. This must be changed and this is an issue I will diligently work on to get resolved. Arkansans must own their property free and clear."
Freedom Of Speech
- Excerpt: "I believe in the 1st Amendment with all of my heart and will fight against any past, current laws or future legislation that hinders any part of this Amendment. The beliefs or the voice of the people should never be silenced in Arkansas or America."
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Arkansas House of Representatives elections, 2018
- Arkansas House of Representatives
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Arkansas House of Representatives
- Official campaign website
- Wayne Willems on Facebook
Footnotes
- ↑ waynewillems.com, "Meet Wayne Willems," accessed March 25, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Election Dates," accessed November 17, 2015
- ↑ 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
- ↑ waynewillems.com, "Platform," accessed March 25, 2014
