Russellville businessman Greg Standridge defeated former state Rep. Stan Berry of Dover on Tuesday for the Republican nomination in the Senate District 16 race.
With all five counties reporting, the unofficial results were Standridge, 2,673 and Berry 2,313.
Standridge, 47, is co-owner of Coffman Standridge Inc., a Russellville insurance agency. He also owns Access Mini Storage in Russellville.
District 16 includes Newton and Pope counties and parts of Boone, Carroll and Van Buren counties.
Standridge carried Boone, Carroll and Pope counties.
Pope County accounted for 4,013 of the 4,986 votes cast in the election. Standridge won Pope County by a 2,246-1,767 vote. Both candidates live in Pope County.
The District 16 vacancy was created by state Sen. Michael Lamoureux's resignation to become Gov. Asa Hutchinson's transition director and chief of staff on Nov. 10.
Standridge will be unopposed in the April 14 special general election.
State Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, introduced Senate Bill 317 on Tuesday that would require the governor to cancel a special general election and declare the candidate elected to fill a vacant seat if, after a special primary election or special runoff election, there is only one candidate and no write-in candidate has filed notice.
In the Jan. 13 Republican primary, Standridge finished first, receiving 2,124 votes but failing to attain a majority.
Berry received 1,826 votes, resulting in the runoff. Russellville businessman Thomas Akin finished third with 490 votes, according to state election officials.
NW News on 02/12/2015