3rd District goes to Womack

Rogers Mayor Steve Womack talks with a supporter during the election watch party at the Embassy Suites in Rogers Tuesday evening. With all precincts reporting, Womack won the Republican nomination with 18,290 votes (52 percent). His opponent Cecile Bledsoe had 17,048 (48 percent).
Rogers Mayor Steve Womack talks with a supporter during the election watch party at the Embassy Suites in Rogers Tuesday evening. With all precincts reporting, Womack won the Republican nomination with 18,290 votes (52 percent). His opponent Cecile Bledsoe had 17,048 (48 percent).

— Rogers Mayor Steve Womack won a tight runoff late Tuesday for the Republican nomination in the 3rd District congressional race and declared victory.

“Obviously, I still have some work to do to earn the support and the confidence of the people who did not vote for me tonight,” Womack said. “It’s been a grueling campaign in a compressed time frame.”

Unofficial results, with all 528 of 528 precincts reporting according to The Associated Press, were:

Steve Womack 18,290

Cecile Bledsoe 17,048

“I want to congratulate Cecile and her team for just doing a spectacular job,” said Womack. “They made this thing a very difficult race in the runoff, and they should be proud of what they’ve accomplished. And we are proud to be the nominee.”

Throughout the evening, the two Republican candidates seeking John Boozman’s seat as congressman waited anxiously at their respective watch parties -- Bledsoe at the Clarion Inn in Fayetteville and Womack at the Embassy Suites in Rogers.

Since the May 18 primary election, they had been locked in a heated runoff battle that got more contentious by the day.

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