Voters in state House District 99 will have the opportunity to vote for Jack Fortner twice on Nov. 8.
Fortner, a Yellville Republican, who is running unopposed for the seat in the general election, said Wednesday that he also will run in the special election to replace former Rep. Kelley Linck, R-Flippin, who resigned to become chief of legislative and governmental affairs at the Department of Human Services.
"I do intend to run. It's the logical thing to do," Fortner said of the special election. "I would be glad to do it, because I am trying to take up the slack and do what I can in the district now."
Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday called a Nov. 8 special election for the District 99 seat. The district, in the north-central part of the state, includes Yellville and borders Missouri.
The general election also is Nov. 8. J.R. Davis, a spokesman for the governor, said there will be both a regular ballot and a special ballot for voters in District 99 in November.
He said the special election is necessary to satisfy Arkansas Code Annotated 7-7-105, which mandates that such elections are held within 150 days.
Linck became a Department of Human Services employee June 13. That's 148 days before Nov. 8.
Unless a candidate of another party files to run for the special election, Fortner will become a lawmaker about two months sooner than expected. New state senators and representatives are sworn in on the first day of the regular session, which is in January.
Reached Wednesday, H.L. Moody, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Arkansas, said he didn't anticipate any Democrats filing to run in the special election.
"The special election is really kind of silly because if they're elected on Nov. 8, they're only going to serve until sometime in January," he said. "I don't see a lot of Democrats being motivated to do that."
Linck was first elected in 2010 and was a recent chairman or held other ranking positions on several health-related committees. He was chairman of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.
As a House member, Linck was paid $39,400 a year, plus per diem mileage and other expenses. His new job pays $108,243 a year.
He had not filed for re-election.
Metro on 06/23/2016