Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson will speak Thursday in Little Rock, a spokesman for the state Republican Party said Tuesday.
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, will attend a rally on the state Capitol steps from noon-1:30 p.m. and speak with reporters afterward at the Little Rock Nine memorial north of the state Capitol, said Isaac Hayes, political director for the state Republican Party.
The candidate is scheduled to attend a rally in Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday night.
Carson, 63, directed pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore for 29 years.
In June 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush, the highest civilian honor in the land.
Carson is at least the fourth Republican candidate to visit Arkansas during the past month and a half.
Seventeen Republicans and five Democrats have announced bids for their party's presidential nomination in 2016.
With the aim of increasing Arkansas' influence on who is selected as the next president, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in May signed a law moving the state's 2016 primary elections from May 24 to March 1.
The shift allows Arkansas to participate with several other Southern states in what the move's supporters called the SEC presidential primary. Other states that plan to have March 1 primaries include Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia.
The SEC is the Southeastern Conference, an intercollegiate athletic conference that includes schools in 11 Southern states.
Real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump spoke on July 17 in Hot Springs at the state Republican Party's Reagan-Rockefeller Dinner, which attracted more than 1,000 people.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas paid a visit on Aug. 12 to Little Rock, Russellville and Van Buren, where he spoke at the Crawford County Republican Committee's Lincoln Day Dinner, which drew about 550 people.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- who formally announced his campaign in Hope on May 5 -- held a private fundraiser Monday night in Little Rock to celebrate his 60th birthday with family, friends and supporters. He ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008.
In addition, Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina is scheduled to speak on Oct. 22 in the Springdale High School auditorium during a Washington County Republican Committee Lincoln Day event, said Committee Chairman Lance Johnson.
Fiorina is a former chief executive officer for Hewlett-Packard and lost a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2010 to Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California.
Johnson said Tuesday that he hopes to announce more details about the fundraiser for the Washington County Republican Committee next week.
As far as the Democratic presidential candidates, former U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke on July 18 at the state Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner in North Little Rock to a crowd of nearly 2,000 people at Verizon Arena.
Clinton is a former Arkansas first lady, whose husband, Bill Clinton, served as Arkansas governor and president of the United States. She ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.
Metro on 08/26/2015