waddell first won his position as a state representative in a special election runoff held on december 13, 1997, to replace shreveport representative-turned-judge roy brun. he defeated fellow republican and former caddo parish school board member, the conservative judy boykin, supported by the christian coalition. waddell polled 2,710 votes (54 percent) to boykin's, 2,278 (46 percent). in the legislature, he served on the health and welfare committee, house legislative services council, joint legislative committee on capital outlay, house special committee on disaster planning, and the middle and north louisiana subcommittee. he has been vice chair of the louisiana rural caucus. waddell brought early voting to louisiana, empowering parish clerks of court to permit voting in shopping centers and public buildings where voters congregate. previously, louisiana had more restrictive absentee voting, which required an excuse to cast a ballot prior to the election. waddell supported a plan to exempt louisiana residents from owing state income taxes on retirement payments.