The responses to restaurateur and state Rep. Micah Neal's announcement late last week that he intended to drop out of the race for Washington County judge provides a clear indication of how unexpected the turn of events was.
For Republicans scrambling to field a replacement candidate and Democrats who, apparently, are eager to block the attempt, most of the answers on Friday were along the lines of "we don't know yet."
Four of us from the newspaper just happened to have eaten lunch at Neal's Cafe, the Springdale diner that's been in Micah Neal's family for more than 70 years, the day before he dropped his bombshell. U.S. Rep. Steve Womack was holding court at a table other local movers and shakers, and Neal was sporadically manning the register, helping bus the occasional table and, just once or twice, sitting down to hear a snippet of the political talk at Womack's table. He gave no indication he was on the verge of a major political move. It seemed like just another day at Neal's.
"We had no warning that this was coming," Lance Johnson, county Republican Committee chairman, said in Scarlet Sims' story about the developments in Saturday's edition.
For many, Neal was already the winner of the November context to replace Marilyn Edwards, who told voters in 2014 that she wouldn't seek any further terms if they elected her. The voters gave her what she wanted.
It was a mere seven months later, in May 2015, Neal announced his plans to forego a campaign for a third term in the Arkansas House of Representatives and instead run for the county office. He had previously served as a member of the Washington County Quorum Court. With that and his time as a legislator in Little Rock, Neal's experience provided a strong foundation from which to seek the top leadership post in county government. His seat in the General Assembly would have easily have been his for the taking, but Neal said he wanted to serve in a capacity that would let him stay home.
So now the questions, and possibly a fight, over Neal's replacement await.
Arkansas Code 7-7-104 says a party can nominate or have a special election to fill a vacated ballot position if the withdrawing candidate dies, has a serious illness, moves out of the area or files for another position.
On Thursday evening, Neal hadn't mentioned any of those possibilities. On Friday, he said he would move into Benton County, a move that would make him ineligible to serve as Washington County judge and much more clearly authorize Washington County Republicans to appoint a successor candidate.
Tyler Clark, chairman of the Washington County Democratic Party, said conflicting information about what's behind Neal's decision could lead to a challenge of the GOP's ability to appoint a replacement to face the Democrats' Mark Kinion, a Fayetteville alderman.
That doesn't seem to be a desirable approach. Does it really make the Democrats seem, well, democratic to try to win the county judge's race by preventing the opposing party from having someone on the ballot? And the idea that it's too late in the political process is suspect. It's July. The election isn't until November. It's pretty hard to argue this would be a last-second replacement. The filing period for municipal candidates, whose races will also be on that November ballot, hasn't even opened yet.
In 1996, the Democrats' Ann Henry stepped into a candidate vacancy for U.S. Congress as challenger to Asa Hutchinson. The previous challenger dropped out citing a lack of fundraising. Henry was nominated by the party on Sept. 15. The election was Nov. 5. That's a federal office, but it's hard to suggest five months is too short if, in 1996, two months wasn't.
The bigger question, if an appointed nominee is possible, is who it might be. Jeff Williams, the Springdale Republican and former county assessor who unsuccessfully ran against Edwards in 2014, has other plans in 2016. He's running for a state representative seat that doesn't have an incumbent. Why? Because Micah Neal decided to run for county judge instead.
Commentary on 07/04/2016