A Profile on Bruce Westerman

Bruce Westerman is currently running for his third term in the US House of Representatives for the state of Arkansas. Previously an engineer for Mid-South Engineering in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Westerman now serves on the Committee on the Budget. He is also currently Chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for the Committee of Natural Resources.1 Though some would accuse Westerman of attacking groups that don't support him, he seems to be genuinely concerned about how those groups go about doing the jobs they are supposed to. From what information I have gathered about Westerman, he seems to be passionate about getting his job done as best he can, and is realistic about challenges he is faced with. I think this makes him an atypical member of Congress because people in positions of great power tend to lose sight of realistic occurrences.

Bruce Westerman represents the fourth district of Arkansas. The fourth district is located in the Southwestern portion of Arkansas and includes towns such as Hot Springs, Texarkana, and El Dorado. Much of the district seems to be suburban with the larger area of this district in comparison with the others in the state of Arkansas. The population of this district is primarily white, with a mean household income of $54,779.3 The area covered by this district also seems to pride itself on its rich history and natural landscapes.

In the 2016 elections, Bruce Westerman ran against Libertarian Kerry Hicks and won with seventy-five percent of the popular vote. I would say that he has a pretty safe seat even though he will be running against both the Democrats and Libertarians, along with three individuals, in the 2018 election because he has gained popularity ever since he joined the political spectrum. The Democratic party candidate running against Westerman is Hayden Shamel, who has previously been a teacher for both high schools and colleges. The Libertarian candidate running against Westerman is Tom Canada, who seems to have started getting into politics just last year.

Bruce Westerman has voted with his party in almost every issue he has voted for and has only missed a handful of votes in total over his several years in the US House of Representatives.6 In these terms, I would say he is quite loyal to his party. In regards to Agriculture and Food votes, different issue groups rated him on opposite ends of the spectrum with half rating him very high, and the other half rating him low.7 There are no interest groups that rated him more than twenty-five percent on his Animals and Wildlife policies. Almost all of the polled interest groups rated him quite high on his Business and Consumers policies. None of the interest groups rated him above twenty-five percent on his Environmental policies. His tax policies are generally rated high, though some interest groups dip farther than others.

For the 2018 election cycle, Bruce Westerman has raised $1,561,039, spent $947,195, and has $958,377 remaining on hand.8 His largest source of funding so far this year is from the Forestry and Forest Products industry which has donated $196,591. There is no funding data given for three of the candidates, but Hayden Shamel has raised $140,096, and one of the independent candidates, Lee McQueen, has raised $1,121.9 The top industries that help fund Westerman are the Forestry and Forest Products, Oil and Gas, Retired, Health Professionals, and Air Transport industries. There is a relevant correlation between the funding received from the Forestry and Forest Products industry, and his recent attempts to pass the Resilient Federal Forests Act. After doing this research on Westerman, I think I would vote for him. He seems to be a man that still regards his job mostly as a public service to the citizens of his district.

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