Bruce Westerman

Bruce Westerman is a Hot Springs native who played football for the Arkansas Razorbacks before working as an engineer and forester.¹ He is married and the father of four, with an interest in the outdoors.¹ He attended Fountain Lake High School in Garland County.¹

At the University of Arkansas, he earned a biological and agricultural engineering degree, then later completed a master's in forestry at Yale.¹ He spent 22 years with Mid-South Engineering in Hot Springs before entering Congress.¹ The Arkansas Society of Professional Engineers named him its Engineer of the Year in 2013.² His local public service included membership on the Fountain Lake School Board.¹

Westerman served two terms in the Arkansas General Assembly and became its first Republican House majority leader since Reconstruction.¹ He was first elected to Congress in 2014 and now chairs Natural Resources while also serving on Transportation and Infrastructure.²¹ His work emphasizes forestry, infrastructure and the management of public lands.³

He advocates changes to federal environmental reviews and renewed funding to address maintenance needs at national parks and forests.³ His proposed Fair Care Act would expand the use of health savings accounts for insurance premiums; it has not advanced out of committee.³ He faces Democrat James Russell, who advocates universal Medicare coverage.³