Rex Nelson

Rex Nelson is a long time college sports broadcaster, columnist, reporter, author, political appointee, and chronicler of Arkansas history. He is a Senior Editor and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He was policy and communications director for governor Mike Huckabee. In 2005 Nelson was appointed by U.S. president George W. Bush to the Delta Regional Authority.

Nelson is a native of Arkadelphia. He graduated summa cum laude from Ouachita Hills College in 1982. and he announces their college football games. He received a B.A. in Mass Communications from the school.

Nelson was inducted into the Arkansas Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame was named Rural Advocate of the Year for the state of Arkansas in 2016 by Governor Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas Rural Development Commission.

Career

Nelson was Washington Bureau Chief for the Arkansas Democrat, also edited Arkansas Business, was the Political Editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from 1992 until 1996, hosted a daily political talk radio show, and was campaign manager and Director of Policy and Communications for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and was part of Huckabee's 2007 prresidential campaign.

In 2011 he became president of the Arkansas Independent Colleges and Universities association. He published a blog called Rex Nelson’s Southern Fried. In 2017 he initated an Arkansas Dood Hall of Fame.

In 1994 Arkansas Business named him one of their "40 under 40". He hosted the "Respond to Rush" show on KARN-AM and eas a regular panelist on AETN's "Arkansas Week" program.

Bibliography

• Southern Fried: Going Whole Hog in a State of Wonder, October 1, 2016
• Giving Until It Feels Good: Ben M. Elrod: Arkansas Educator and Fundraiser, July 19, 2016 by Rex Nelson and Ian Cosh
• The Hillary Factor: The Story of America’s First Lady. (1993) cowritten with Phillip Martin
• Articles by Nelson at the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette