Donnie Ray Copeland (born March 16, 1961) is an American pastor and politician. He is the pastor of the Apostolic

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas. From 2015 through 2017, he served one term as a Republican member of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House has 100 members elected from an equal number of constituencies across the state. Each distr ...

for District 38 in Pulaski County.

Early career

Copeland attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe, when the institution was known as Northeast Louisiana University. In 2010, Copeland polled 60,072 votes (48.1 percent) in the Republican primary election for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, having lost to Mark Darr, who received 64,883 votes (51.9 percent). Darr then defeated in the general election the Democrat Shane Broadway for the seat vacated by another Democrat, Bill Halter.

House of Representatives

In 2014, Copeland won the House position with 5,710 votes (51.5 percent), when he unseated the one-term Democrat Patti Julian, who polled 5,389 votes (48.5 percent). Copeland was succeeded in the House by fellow Republican Carlton Wing, who with 7,019 votes (52.1 percent) defeated the Democrat Victoria Leigh, who received 6,466 (48 percent). In his legislative term, Copeland served on these committees: (1) City, County and Local Affairs, (2) Judiciary, and (3) Public Retirement and Social Security. Rather than seeking a second term in the state House, Copeland ran unsuccessfully on March 1, 2016, in the Republican primary for the District 34 seat in

Arkansas Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

. He polled 6,365 votes (48.8 percent) against the successful incumbent, Jane English, who received 6,687 votes (51.2 percent). English then defeated the Democrat Joe Woodson, also of North Little Rock, in the November 8 general election, 21,497 votes (58 percent) to 15,541 (42 percent).

References

1961 births Living people University of Louisiana at Monroe alumni Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly American Pentecostal pastors Politicians from Monroe, Louisiana Politicians from North Little Rock, Arkansas {{Arkansas-politician-stub