W. E. Bishop

{{Short description|American Democratic Party politician (1915–1990)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name =W. E. Bishop

|image =WEBishop.jpg

|image_size=

|caption=

|office1=Member of the
Florida House of Representatives
from Columbia County

|term_start1=1955

|term_end1=1956

|office2=Member of the Florida Senate from the 14th district

|term_start2=1956

|term_end2=1957

|preceded2=J. O. Phillips

|succeeded2=G. T. Melton

|office3=Member of the Florida Senate from the 6th district

|term_start3=1968

|term_end3=1972

|preceded3=L. P. Gibson

|succeeded3=Jim Williams

|birth_name=Waldo Emerson Bishop

|birth_date = {{birth date|1915|1|14}}

|birth_place =Florida, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1990|1|30|1915|1|14}}

|death_place =Lake City, Florida, U.S.

|party =Democratic

|occupation=

|spouse =Virginia Hodges

|children =

|relations=

|religion=

|residence=Lake City, Florida

|alma_mater=

}}

Waldo Emerson Bishop (January 14, 1915 – January 30, 1990) was an American politician in the state of Florida and a Democrat.

He served in the Florida Senate from 1956 to 1957 and again from 1968 to 1972 as a Democratic member for the 14th district (first term) and 6th district (second term).{{cite web|url=http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/fefdl/florida/Senate18452001.html|title=Florida Senators|publisher=uflib.ufl.edu|accessdate=September 21, 2014}} He also served briefly in the Florida House of Representatives from 1955 to 1956.{{cite web|url=http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/FileStores/Web/HouseContent/Approved/Public%20Guide/Uploads/Documents/house_counties_final.pdf |title=Membership of the Florida House of Representatives by County, 1845-2012 |author=Ward, Robert L. / Florida House of Representatives |year=2011 |publisher= |accessdate=December 11, 2011}}{{Citation|title=The People of Lawmaking Florida 1822 – 2019|work=Florida Legislature|date=February 2019}} He was a member of the Pork Chop Gang, a group of legislators from rural areas that dominated the state legislature due to malapportionment and used their power to engage in McCarthyist tactics.{{citation |title=Group portrait of the Pork Chop Gang during the 1956 special session of the Senate |date=1956 |url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/35657 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715231808/https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/35657 |archive-date=July 15, 2015 |url-status=live |publisher=Florida Memory |accessdate=July 14, 2015}}{{Cite journal |last=Weitz |first=Seth |date=2009-03-01 |title=Defending the Old South: The Myth of the Lost Cause and Political Immorality in Florida, 1865–1968 |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6563.2008.00232.x |journal=The Historian |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=79–92 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.2008.00232.x |issn=0018-2370}}