FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville attorney and small business co-owner Adrienne Kvello, 39, will make a Democratic bid for the state House District 84 seat currently held by Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville.
"I'm running for my family and your family, as someone who wants to be a representative of them more than as a party politician and lobbyists of the NRA," Kvello said, referring to the National Rifle Association. Collins was chief legislative sponsor of a bill allowing concealed carry permit holders to bring their guns onto state college and university campuses.
"I grew up hunting, hunting squirrels and deer with my dad," said Kvello, who grew in Northwest Arkansas and is a graduate of Fayetteville High School. Responsible gun use isn't in conflict with measures she supports, Kvello said, such as "full background checks, barring people with a history of domestic abuse from buying guns, and banning bump stocks." Bump stocks are devices that greatly increase a semi-automatic rifle's rate of fire.
Kvello and her husband, Eric co-own Eagle Eye Inspections, a home inspection business. The candidate is licensed to practice law in Arkansas and Oklahoma. She is also a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and of the University of Houston Law School in Texas.
Kvello practiced law in Texas until her family moved home to Fayetteville in August 2014, she said. Another major concern of hers is a shared concern of many Arkansas families, she said: Health care.
"We spent $17,000 out of pocket on health care last year and, at the rate things are going, will spend $20,000 this year," Kvello said. "That is not sustainable."
Collins confirmed Wednesday he's running for re-election. Collins' last Democratic opponent ran in 2014, in a race Collins won with 58 percent of the vote. The last Democrat to represent what is now District 84 was Jim House of Fayetteville, who lost to Collins in 2010.
So far, neither Kvello nor Collins have primary opponents. Candidate filing for state offices begins Feb. 22 and ends March 1. The general election is Nov. 6. Members of the House serve two-year terms.
Kvello will host a kickoff event at the Apple Blossom Brewing Company today from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. "Common Sense. Common Ground" is the motto of her campaign, she said.
NW News on 11/16/2017