An attorney, an ushering service employee and a missionary are vying to represent Paragould in the March 1 Republican primary.
Jimmy Gazaway, a 35-year-old deputy prosecuting attorney, said he wants to strengthen specialized courts -- like veteran and drug courts -- and reduce the recidivism rate of inmates.
"I'm running because I want to see Paragould and Oak Grove Heights continue to grow and be successful communities," he said.
Ronnie Spence, a 54-year-old Andy Frain Service employee who works on Arkansas State University's campus, said he understands the plight of working families and wants to expand employment through lower taxes and less regulation.
"I just work a regular wage job. I make $9.25 an hour," he said. "I'm not an attorney. I don't own a business. I know what's it like to live paycheck to paycheck."
Shawn Strouss, a 49-year-old who runs Life House Ministries, said her work demonstrates her commitment to conservative values. She said she wants to take those values to Little Rock.
"We have so many arms to our pro-life missionary," she said. "It made it right for me because of how many people I serve -- to be able to serve this district on a larger scale was appealing."
The three are seeking the Republican nomination for the District 57 seat now held by Rep. Mary Broadaway, D-Paragould, who is not seeking re-election. The primary is March 1 and a runoff, if necessary, will be March 22. The winner will face Democrat Frankie Gilliam, an economic development specialist at the Arkansas State University Delta Center for Economic Development, in the November general election.
Each of the Republican candidates said the state's expanded Medicaid program is among the most pressing issues facing state lawmakers.
Under the private option, the state uses federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans. About 250,000 Arkansans have health insurance through the private option, according to the state Department of Human Services.
In 2017, the federal waiver authorizing the private option expires, and Arkansas will begin paying a portion of the program's cost. The state's share will start at 5 percent and rise each year until 2020, when it reaches 10 percent -- an estimated $173 million.
In 2013, the state's Medicaid expansion was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson has vowed to continue the Medicaid expansion with some changes, including referring unemployed enrollees to job programs and finding ways to reduce the state expenditure on Medicaid by at least $50 million a year.
Strouss said the state needs to exercise as much control as possible over the Medicaid expansion.
"I would want to hear what other options we have. If Hutchinson is going to implement it, we as a state need to have as much control over it as possible and repeal it when we get a Republican president," she said. "In the meantime, if we're going to implement it, we need to make sure we don't give the federal government more authority over it."
Spence said he opposes the Medicaid expansion, regardless of what changes are made to the program.
"I don't think a healthy working-age man -- who's able to work -- should have free health insurance off the taxpayer dollar," he said. "I will not vote for the Arkansas Works program or the private option or whatever you want to call it."
Gazaway said he does not support the Medicaid expansion in its current form.
"I'm certainly open to looking at all proposals, but I'm opposed to Obamacare," he said. "I think we're just going to have to see what happens with the private option. If it continues, we obviously have a much easier path to addressing our highway problem."
In January, Hutchinson unveiled a multipronged plan to boost highway funding to match federal highway dollars, by tapping state surpluses and redirecting some money.
Taxes would not be raised under the plan.
But the governor said he couldn't allocate $40 million in surplus funds to highway needs "if we do not have access to the federal funds that are part of the Medicaid expansion" and the state has to put more money into the Medicaid program.
If the revised Medicaid expansion is not approved, Gazaway said, the state would need to find the money to improve highways.
Spence said the half-percent sales tax passed more than three years ago is enough to improve highways and called for an investigation into the state Highway and Transportation Department.
Strouss said she doesn't "mind fixing our highways and byways and all of that," but money should be taken from duplicate services and waste. She said she doesn't want to see a tax increase.
The candidates said they generally supported allowing residents to openly carry weapons, were against Common Core education standards and were opposed to abortion.
Gazaway said he graduated from Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's law school. He is married and has a daughter.
Spence said he attended Arkansas State University. He is divorced and has a daughter.
Strouss said she graduated from DeVry University. She is married and has one son and two daughters.
Metro on 02/22/2016