Ron Caldwell


Ronald R. "Ron" Caldwell is a businessman from Wynne in Cross County in eastern Arkansas, who has been since 2013 a Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate. His District 23 encompasses Jackson County and portions of Cross, Lee, Monroe, St. Francis, White, and Woodruff counties.

Background

Caldwell graduated in 1969 from Wynne High School and thereafter from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, from which he received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. He and his wife, Brenda, married in 1977 and have two children together, Corey Crain Caldwell and Mary Ann Caldwell Weatherford, wife of the Reverend John Carl Weatherford, and three grandchildren. The Caldwells are active in the Wynne Baptist Church. He is a member of the National Rifle Association.
Caldwell and his brother founded and managed for thirty years the former Caldwell Lumber Company in Wynne. He is a real estate investor and a former member of the Cross County Economic Development Commission. He cites small business as one of his major concerns as a state senator.

Political life

In the summer of 2012, Caldwell was supporting Thomas Lee "Tommy" Caubble of Wynne for the state Senate. When Caubble died at the start of the general election campaign, Caldwell stepped forward to replace him as the unopposed Republican nominee for the seat. The incumbent Democratic Senator Jerry Taylor did not seek reelection. Caldwell instead defeated another incumbent Democrat, Jerry Brown, who was moved to District 23. In the election held on November 6, 2012, Caldwell polled 13,798 votes to Brown's 12,214.
Caldwell is a member of the Arkansas Legislative Council and these Senate committees: Agriculture, Forestry, and Economic Development, City, County, and Local Affairs, Energy, Legislative Facilities, Public Health, Welfare, and Labor, Rules, Resolutions and Memorials.
A pro-life legislator, Caldwell voted to ban abortions after twenty weeks of gestation or whenever fetal heartbeat is determined. Caldwell voted to allow university and college staff to carry concealed weapons on campus to enhance security. He voted to require picture identification for voting, which required the override of a veto by Democratic Governor Mike Beebe. He voted to allow the sale in Arkansas of unpasteurized whole milk.
Senator Caldwell in 2013 voted for a Republican bill to amend state income taxes. He voted to test recipients of unemployment compensation for use of narcotics and to reduce weekly benefits to the unemployed. Caldwell did not vote on legislation to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas nonpartisan or on a failed proposal to require a racial-impact statement regarding crime bills.
Caldwell endorsed former U.S. Representative Asa Hutchinson's successful bid for governor in 2014.