Democrats move to dismiss suit in Washington County judge race, plan to refile

Micah Neal
Micah Neal

The Democratic Party of Arkansas has moved to dismiss its lawsuit seeking to block the replacement of Micah Neal as the Republican candidate for Washington County judge, according to a court document filed Monday.

The motion does not say why the plaintiffs want to dismiss the suit.

The motion was made because of a “scheduling issue,” said Chris Burks, attorney for the Democratic Party of Arkansas. Burks and many local Democrats are currently in Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention, and the hearing on the case was set for Tuesday, Burks said.

The same lawsuit will be refiled, likely Thursday or Friday, Burks said. Democrats plan to add the Washington County Election Commission to the lawsuit in case the judge reaches a decision after the county clerk has passed a nominee to the commission, he said.

The action today is a one-time motion and cannot be done again, Burks said.

The Democratic Party of Arkansas and Clark said in the lawsuit that Republicans can't replace Rep. Micah Neal as their nominee because there isn't a valid vacancy for the position.

Neal said in June he planned to leave the race for personal and business reasons. When he officially withdrew from the race July 8 by filing a statement with the county clerk, he said he planned to move to Benton County in August.

Fayetteville Alderman Mark Kinion is the Democratic nominee for county judge.

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