2 county judges re-elected; 1 ahead

Voters in Northwest Arkansas deciding on 4 such positions

Four counties in Northwest Arkansas were counting election results late Tuesday in races for county judge.

Early results showed that incumbents were winning in at least three counties.

With 97 of 109 precincts reporting, unofficial results for county judge in Sebastian County were: David Hudson . . . . . . . . 28, 794 Tim Dunn . . . . . . . . . . . . .13, 628

Hudson said he was humbled by the support he received from voters and said he was ready to face the challenge of improving county administration.

Vote results were not available late Tuesday night in the Carroll County judge’s race between incumbent Democrat Sam Barr and Republican challenger Andrew Wilhelm.

With 12 of 12 precincts reporting, unofficial results for Boone County judge were James Norton. . . . . . . . . . . 9,016 Bobby Woods. . . . . . . . . . . 5,546

With 26 of 26 precincts reporting, unofficial results for county judge in Scott County were James Forbes . . . . . . . . . . . 2,378 William Bates. . . . . . . . . . . 1,208

Hudson, 59, a Republicanwho has held the county judge position since 1999, described himself as a fiscal conservative who doesn’t overshoot revenue forecasts and follows the county’s policy of retaining contingency funds for emergencies and cash flow.

He said his stewardship of the budget has allowed the county to renovate the county courthouse, expand the county jail and build a $14 million courts building with existing revenue and without a tax increase.

Under his leadership, the county is working with Fort Smith to build an aquatics park, establish more softball and soccer fields at Ben Geren Regional Park, and upgrade the county Emergency Medical Services facilities in Greenwood.

Dunn, 54, an auctioneer and personal property appraiser, opposed the aquatics park project, saying the county proposes to spend too much money on parks and recreation and not enough on the sheriff’s office.

He said county residents should have been given the opportunity to vote on whether to fund the aquatics park.

Fort Smith and Sebastian County agreed to split the cost of the estimated $8 million aquatics park.

Tuesday’s election was the second time Barr and Wilhelm have competed against each other for the county judge position in Carroll County.

During the campaign, Wilhelm criticized the incumbent Barr for not spending more on county roads and failing to follow a Quorum Court call for a consultant to devise a uniform pay scale for county employees.

Barr responded that there wasn’t money in the county budget for raises, and he opposed hiring the consultant to come up with a new pay scale.

Barr also had to deal in his first term with the effects of an ice storm and flooding on the county’s roads, he said.

He said he wanted to focus on trying to improve the county’s road system.

In Boone County, Norton, the Republican incumbent, ran for a second term. He was challenged by Woods, a Harrison real-estate broker who ran unsuccessfully against Norton for county judge in 2010.

In Scott County, Forbes, the three-term Democratic county judge, faced Bates, an independent who sits on the Scott County Quorum Court and owns a road-construction business.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 16 on 11/07/2012

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