Five contests for seats in the Arkansas House remain active in Northwest Arkansas following Tuesday's Republican primary.
"I'm trying not to think about that, or at least get through the weekend first," said Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville. Dotson prevailed in a primary challenge in his bid for a second term. He faces Bentonville City Council member Leah Williams, a Democrat, in November's general election.
"I'd like to get my signs down before I have to start thinking of getting them up again, but I'm not going to take anything for granted," Dotson said.
Williams wasn't surprised by Tuesday's low turnout in primaries, she said. People have grown tired of politics, which have been intense in the last two elections as the state's majority party switched from Democratic to Republican. Her campaign will take account of that weariness among the voters, she said.
"This is going to be fun, because I'm going to make it fun," Williams said. "I'm really not going to focus on the 'D' and 'R' thing. I want people to know me as a mom, not a politician."
Tuesday's primaries settled three races in Benton and Washington counties. No Democratic lawmakers in the region faced primary opposition. The Republican primaries picked Robin Lundstrum of Elm Springs for the District 87 state House seat, Lance Eads of Springdale for District 88 and Jana Della Rosa of Rogers for District 90. They face no opposition in November.
There are no contested races for the state Senate. Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, is unopposed. So is Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville. Other senators in the region were not up for re-election.
All five House contested House races in Benton and Washington counties are for seats currently held by Republicans. The outcome of those races could decide the majority party status of the closely divided state House of Representatives. Republicans currently hold the majority by 51 of 100 seats.
"Our sense is that the balance of power going was always riding on the races here," said Tyler Clark of Fayetteville, treasurer of the state Democratic Party.
It has been an intense couple of election cycles, Clark said. "We believe that the candidates who are going to win are not too far to the right or too far to the left," he said. "We think the ones who will win are the consensus-builders."
The remaining races in the region are:
• Dotson and Williams. Dotson seeks his second term in House District 93. Dotson defeated Republican primary challenger Bill Burckart on Tuesday. Williams faced no Democratic opposition.
• Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, versus Washington County Justice of the Peace Candy Clark, a Democrat. Collins seeks a third term in House District 84. Collins and Clark were unopposed in their primaries.
• Political newcomers Grimsley Graham and Rebecca Petty will face each other in the race for the District 94 seat in Rogers. Graham is a Democrat and Petty a Republican. Petty defeated Rogers City Council member Marge Wolf in Tuesday's primary. Graham was unopposed on Tuesday. They are running for the seat currently held by Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers. The state constitution forbids a lawmaker from running for more than three House terms, rendering Hobbs ineligible.
• Republican Grant Hodges of Rogers defeated primary opponent Damon Wallace in Hodges' first political contest on Tuesday. He faces Democrat Tom McClure in their bid for the open District 96 seat of the state House. Also, Libertarian candidate Michael J. Kalagias is running. Sitting Rep. Duncan Baird, R-Lowell, is also term limited.
• Incumbent Rep. Sue Scott defeated first-time candidate Dane Zimmerman in Tuesday's primary and faces no major party opposition. She is running for a second term in the District 95 state House seat. However, Libertarian candidate Eddie Moser opposes her.
NW News on 05/22/2014