Terry Wilfred Rice (born 1954) is an American politician and

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

and appliance store owner from Waldron,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. He has been a Republican member of the

Arkansas State 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 ...

for District 5 (and previously District 9), which include

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

and

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counties near Fort Smith since January 2015. From 2009 to 2013, he represented House District 62 in 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 ...

, having succeeded fellow Republican Shirley Ann Walters of Greenwood in Sebastian County. From 2013 to 2015, he represented District 21.

Term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, whe ...

in the House, he ran instead for the state Senate.

Political life

2008 campaign for state representative

In 2008, Rice won the District 62 seat by defeating

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Bill Walters of Greenwood, 5,610 (53.2%) to 4,937 (46.8%). Walters was the husband of Shirley A. Walters a former Republican member of the

. Both Rice's father and grandfather were Democratic members of the Arkansas House. Wilfred R. "Bud" Rice represented south

and Scott counties from 1977 to 1995. Bud Rice's father, Worth Rice, served in the House representing Scott County from 1935 to 1939. Rice describes himself as "passionate in my belief that we cannot continue the status quo. We cannot tax and spend our way to prosperity. Government must become more efficient just as successful businesses have. ... I believe our faith, life and family values are the foundation of this great country and must stand before

political correctness "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

." Rice is chairman of the House Performance Review Committee and also serves on the Insurance and Commerce and Public Transportation committees. He is vice chairman of the Arkansas Legislative Council. An anti-abortion legislator, Rice voted to ban

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

s after twenty weeks of gestation or whenever a "fetal heartbeat" is determined. He voted to declare the death of a

fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

in certain situations. Rice voted to allow university and college staff to carry concealed weapons on campus to enhance security. He also voted to require picture identification for voting. Rice voted to allow the sale of unpasteurized milk in Arkansas. He voted for a spending cap on state spending; this passed the House by two votes. In 2011, he voted to ban

cell phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...

s in school zones for safety reasons. In 2013, Rice was defeated, 52-46, in a bid to become the first Republican

Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives The Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives is the speaker (presiding officer) of the Arkansas House of Representatives, the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly. They serve as the leader and head of the Arkansas House, and can ...

since

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by another Republican who had Democratic support, attorney/banker

Davy Carter Russell Davis Carter, known as Davy Carter (born March 31, 1975), is the Republican former Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives, a position which he held from 2013 to 2015. A resident of Cabot in Lonoke County, Carter represented D ...

of Cabot in Lonoke County.

2014 campaign for state senate

Rice was

term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, whe ...

and hence ineligible to seek a fourth two-year term in the House in 2014. Rice instead challenged District 9

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 ...

Bruce Holland of Greenwood in Sebastian County in the May 20 Republican primary. Rice prevailed in the primary, receiving 3,457 votes (56%) to Holland's 2,710 (44%).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Terry 1954 births Living people Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly Republican Party Arkansas state senators Baptists from Arkansas People from Scott County, Arkansas Businesspeople from Arkansas Ranchers from Arkansas