BENTONVILLE -- Benton County voters will have a choice when they mark their Republican primary election ballots for county judge March 1.
Barry Moehring of Bentonville, justice of the peace for District 15 and a former executive with Wal-Mart and DreamWorks Animation, will run for county judge against incumbent Bob Clinard, who said Monday he will run for re-election.
Primary Election
The 2016 primary election is set for March 1. The filing period for candidates for county offices begins at noon Nov. 2 and ends at noon Nov. 9. Early voting for the primary will begin Feb. 16, 2016, and end Feb. 29, 2016.
Source: Staff report
Moehring is serving his second term on the Benton County Quorum Court and is a member of the county's Finance and Public Safety committees. Moehring announced his candidacy Monday. Moehring has lived in Benton County for more than 16 years.
"We live and work and raise our kids in a wonderful community," he said. "By one projection, Benton County is going to add another 50,000 residents in the next 10 years. We need a countywide vision and a plan to handle that growth."
Moehring said he has three "key initiatives" for Benton County: fiscal health; long-range planning; and trust, integrity and transparency.
Moehring did not mention Clinard in announcing his campaign and said his focus is on his own plans and vision for the county.
"I will say I think I have a different approach," Moehring said when asked about Clinard.
Clinard, who has been county judge since 2011, said Moehring had called and informed him of his decision to run.
Clinard said he will run for another term but he is not yet focused on next year's election.
"I know he's going to run and I'm going to run and we'll see what happens," Clinard said. "It's going to be business as usual around here. It's long time between now and the election. I'll run the way I always have. I'll run on my record."
Moehring said he supports having a balanced budget and opposes unnecessary taxes and "raids" on the county's reserve funds. He said he has supported what he considered needed expenditures for law enforcement and the county jail, along with emergency road and bridge repairs.
Moehring also said the county needs to have a long-range plan for infrastructure and transportation needs, emergency services and economic development. The county can and should serve as a facilitator and coordinator, working with city governments and others to promote development in the county, he said.
Kurt Moore, justice of the peace for District 13, has seen several contests where sitting justices of the peace ran for county judge. The political contest can spill over into the business side of county government, Moore said.
"Barry's a pretty classy guy. I expect this to be ... cordial. Although I'm sure there are going to be differences of opinion," he said.
NW News on 08/11/2015