Nelda Speaks
Nelda Speaks (Republican Party) was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, representing District 100. She assumed office on January 12, 2015. She left office on January 9, 2023.
Speaks (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Arkansas House of Representatives to represent District 100. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Biography
Speaks' hometown is Mountain Home, Arkansas. She graduated from Rhema College and Draughon’s Business College. From 1996 to 2012, she served as treasurer of Baxter County, Arkansas, and from 2013 to 2014 she served as Justice of the Peace for Baxter County's 7th District. In addition, she was formerly vice-chair of the 3rd Congressional District of Arkansas. She has been a member of the Baxter County Republican Party, as well as the National Rifle Association. She was also elected vice-president of the Twin Lake Republican Women's Group.[1]
Committee assignments
2021-2022
Speaks was assigned to the following committees:
- House Education Committee
- House Management Committee
- House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, Vice-chair
2019-2020
Speaks was assigned to the following committees:
- Legislative Joint Auditing Committee
- Joint Performance Review Committee
- House City, County and Local Affairs Committee
- House Education Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • City, County and Local Affairs |
| • Education |
| • Joint Performance Review |
| • Joint Performance Review |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Speaks served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • City, County and Local Affairs |
| • Revenue and Taxation |
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
2022
Nelda Speaks did not file to run for re-election.
2020
See also: Arkansas House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 100
Incumbent Nelda Speaks defeated Kevin Vornheder in the general election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 100 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nelda Speaks (R) | 79.0 | 11,205 | |
| Kevin Vornheder (L) | 21.0 | 2,979 | ||
| Total votes: 14,184 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 100
Incumbent Nelda Speaks defeated Paige Evans in the Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 100 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nelda Speaks | 57.5 | 2,556 | |
| Paige Evans | 42.5 | 1,892 | ||
| Total votes: 4,448 | ||||
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Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Kevin Vornheder advanced from the Libertarian primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 100.
2018
General election
The general election was canceled. Incumbent Nelda Speaks won election in the general election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 100.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 100
Incumbent Nelda Speaks advanced from the Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 100 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Nelda Speaks | |
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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 Nelda Speaks ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 100 general election.[3]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 100 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Nelda Speaks Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State | ||
Incumbent Nelda Speaks ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 100 Republican Primary.[4][5]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 100 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Nelda Speaks 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. Willa Mae Tilley was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Nelda Speaks was unopposed in the Republican primary. Speaks defeated Tilley in the general election.[6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Nelda Speaks |
63% | 6,550 | |
| Democratic | Willa Mae Tilley | 37% | 3,850 | |
| Total Votes | 10,400 | |||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Nelda Speaks did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
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.
2022
In 2022, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from February 14 to March 15.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to small business issues.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 11 to October 15.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from April 8 to April 24.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 14 through April 24.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from February 12 through March 12. The legislature held a special session from March 13 to March 15.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 91st Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 1. The Legislature held a special session from May 1 to May 3.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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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.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 90th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 2.
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See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Vote Smart, "Nelda Speaks," accessed September 30, 2019
- ↑ 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
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Arkansas House of Representatives District 100 2015-2023 |
Succeeded by Carol Dalby (R) |
