Edward Sheffield Nelson (born April 23, 1941) is an American
attorney,
businessman
A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...
and
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
from the capital city of
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
. Originally a
Democrat, Nelson in 1990 ran for
governor of Arkansas
The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics and government of Arkansas, Arkansas government a ...
as a
Republican against then governor and future
U.S. president Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
and in 1994 against another Democrat, the
incumbent
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election.
There may or may not be ...
governor
Jim Guy Tucker.
Nelson was born in Keevil near
Brinkley in
Monroe County in eastern Arkansas. He graduated from
Brinkley High School and thereafter received his undergraduate degree in mathematics education from the
University of Central Arkansas at
Conway
Conway may refer to:
Places
United States
* Conway, Arkansas
* Conway County, Arkansas
* Lake Conway, Arkansas
* Conway, Florida
* Conway, Iowa
* Conway, Kansas
* Conway, Louisiana
* Conway, Massachusetts
* Conway, Michigan
* Conway Townshi ...
, where he was the student body president. He obtained a
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
degree in 1969 from the
William H. Bowen School of Law at the
University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Prior to his foray into politics, he was from 1973 through 1984 the CEO of a
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
company, Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company, since known as
CenterPoint Energy. Nelson has served on the
United States Commission on Civil Rights and from 2000 to 2007 on the
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission under appointment from Governor
Mike Huckabee. From 1990 to 1992, he was chairman of the
Arkansas Republican Party. From 1992 to 2000, he was the Arkansas Republican National Committeeman, a position formerly held by
Winthrop Rockefeller, the father of the GOP resurgence in Arkansas who was elected governor in 1966 and 1968.
In 1990, Nelson won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in a divisive race against
Tommy F. Robinson, who then held
Arkansas's 2nd congressional district
Arkansas's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district located in the central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas and includes most of the state capital of Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock, its suburbs, and surrounding areas. The dist ...
seat based about Little Rock. Nelson lost in the fall to Clinton. In 1994, he sought the governorship again and narrowly won the GOP primary over
state Senator
A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
History
There are typically fewer state senators than there ...
Steve Luelf and businessman Bill Jones. In that campaign his events coordinator was the later State Senator
Missy Irvin of
Mountain View. Nelson was again defeated in the general election, 59 to 41 percent by Democratic Governor Jim Guy Tucker, who had succeeded Bill Clinton in December 1992, when Clinton resigned to become U.S. President. Nelson had openly predicted that Tucker would be
indicted before the end of his elected term. Tucker was forced to resign in 1996 after his conviction in the
Whitewater
Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...
investigation.
Nelson has remained a prominent part of Arkansas' political scene, promoting a proposal to raise the natural gas
severance tax to fund highway improvements and openly attacking the attempts of the Game and Fish Commission to exempt itself from the
Arkansas Freedom of Information Act in regard to fiscal matters.
In 2015, Nelson was named by Governor
Asa Hutchinson, with whom he once served as GOP co-chair, to the
University of Arkansas board of trustees. Nelson is the fourth Arkansas Republican whom Bill Clinton defeated for governor; the others being
Lynn Lowe,
Frank D. White, and
Woody Freeman.
Nelson and his wife, Mary Lynn McCastlain, an
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
originally from Brinkley, reside in Little Rock. They have two daughters and thirteen grandchildren. He is currently a partner in the Little Rock law firm of Jack Nelson Jones & Bryant.
External links
Biography of Nelson from his law firm*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Sheffield
1941 births
Living people
American lawyers
Candidates in the 1990 United States elections
Arkansas Democrats
Arkansas Republicans
Arkansas Republican state chairmen
Businesspeople from Arkansas
Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas
People from Monroe County, Arkansas
University of Central Arkansas alumni
University of Arkansas at Little Rock alumni
Whitewater controversy
Governorships of Bill Clinton
University of Arkansas System trustees
Candidates in the 1992 United States elections
20th-century Arkansas politicians