NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Both contested primaries for state Senate in Northwest Arkansas were won by younger candidates who made a firm anti-tax stance the keystone for their campaigns.
There was also a lot of hard work and support involved, both winners said.
“You’re surprised to win, especially against someone of the quality of Tim Summers,” said Bart Hester, who won in Bentonville’s District 1 race over the two-term state representative. “We counted. I knocked on 5,000 doors and we made 600 phone calls in the last few days.” Hester was visibly more tan Wednesday than he was when the race began.
Sen. Bill Pritchard, R-Elkins, would have been first in seniority in the Senate if he had won his race against Rep. Jon Woods, R-Springdale. Woods faces Democratic opponent Diana Gonzales Worthen in the fall for Springdale’s District 7 seat.
“A lot of people are afraid of the way this country is going, of all the spending, and they want someone who will hold the line,” Woods said. That’s why his and Hester’s hard line against tax increases worked. Woods’ campaign referred to Pritchard’s vote in favor of a major state sales tax increase when the state was under order from the Arkansas Supreme Court to increase money for schools. Hester’s campaign criticized Summers’ votes in favor of a tobacco tax, a milk tax and a diesel fuel tax.
“We’re not ignorant of our responsibilities,” said Woods, a three-term state House member. “It’s not like we’re against roads and schools and other things built with taxes. It’s just the automatic assumption that government revenues should keep going up whatever happens that has people so frustrated.”
This race was Hester’s first run for public office. “Every poll we had showed that taxes was the pivotal issue,” he said.
Woods also said six years of taking care of constituents’ concerns as a state lawmaker in Springdale helped his chances. “I’ve always been strong in constituency service,” he said.
Summers said he had no regrets. “I’d vote for that tobacco tax again because it was the right thing to do,” he said.
“Of course I’m disappointed, but there’s more to life than the state Legislature,” Summers said.
“Now we’ve all got to get behind Mr. Hester and support him and help him represent our area,” Summers said. After results were in, Summers said he called Hester and told him “I’d do anything I could to help him and I meant it.”
Although he believed there was distortion of his record in campaign advertising, Summers attributed that to independent, conservative groups. He advised Hester to “remember that everybody at a legislative session wants something from you. That may not be a bad thing they want, but you have got to keep your independence.”
Hester plans to spend the rest of the year studying up on the process and state budget, he said. “There’s no secret that I don’t have any political experience, so it’s my responsibility to get as informed as I can,” Hester said.
Pritchard said “of course I was very disappointed. I hoped to serve my last term. I can’t help but be worried about the future, but for the moment the voters have decided that I’m not the one to worry about it.”
Both Pritchard and Woods described District 7 as solidly Republican, but Woods said he wouldn’t take the campaign against Worthen for granted. Pritchard said he would support Woods in that race and work to make the transition as smooth as possible.
Woods will not find the general election to be as simple as a partisan primary, Worthen said Wednesday: “This district has the highest number of uninsured children in the state. We have children, seniors and veterans who are worried about health care and a lot of issues that aren’t being addressed. They want a voice.”