​ Elwood A. Freeman, known as Woody Freeman (born December 28, 1946),[1] is a businessman in Jonesboro, Arkansas, who was the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1984. He lost to the incumbent, Governor Bill Clinton]], the Democrat who eight years later was elected President of the United States. Freeman was the third of four Republicans whom Clinton dispatched in his five successful races for governor.​ ​ Freeman is the son of Elwood A. Freeman (born 1918) and Mildred Hout Freeman (born 1919), who divorced. In 1962, the senior Freeman married the former Elaine E. Stanfield (born 1920).[2] Woody Freeman is married to the former Lynda Brown (born 1947).[3]
​ Prior to the gubernatorial bid, Freeman served for eight years on the nonpartisan Jonesboro School Board and was the president of the board from 1978 to 1981. Freeman was appointed by Republican Governor Frank D. White to the Arkansas Board of Higher Education in 1981 and served until he resigned to run for governor.[4] He won the Republican nomination over Erwin Davis, a lawyer from Fayetteville.[5] A political writer described both Freeman and Davis as "articulate and attractive young men who vigorously sought the nomination."[6] Freeman received 13,030 votes (68.4 percent) to Davis' 6,010 (31.6 percent) in a low-turnout primary.[7]​ ​ As a Republican nominee, Freeman was a credible candidate when he challenged Clinton who was seeking his third and last two-year term in the office.[8]-->[6]