State Auditor Andrea Lea believes there's still work to be done in the office.
She's spent the past four years transforming the office into an efficient, customer-friendly operation, she said, but she needs more time to continue down the path of innovation.
"Whether it be the technology upgrades or the structural reorganization changes we have made, Arkansans are being served more efficiently and quickly than ever before," Lea said. "I want to continue this work for four more years so that the next auditor will be able to continue innovating and not have to worry about catching up to modern day technology and service standards."
Lea, a Republican who was elected as the state's 40th auditor in 2014, is facing Libertarian candidate David Dinwiddie in Tuesday's general election.
The state auditor, one of the state's seven constitutional offices, acts as the general accountant, writing the checks to pay state bills and administering payroll for the executive, legislative and judicial branches.
The office is perhaps best known for the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt, the unclaimed property program that connects Arkansans with their property. Banks and corporations nationwide turn checks, stocks, bonds, abandoned bank accounts and safe-deposit items over to the auditor's office when they cannot locate the owners.
The auditor then seeks out the owners.
The program was previously administered by listing names of property owners once a year in newspapers in all 75 counties.
The Treasure Hunt was digitized and Lea lobbied for the passage of Act 592 of 2015, which cut the newspaper advertising tab by roughly $225,000 each year.
Now, property owners are directed to the state's website and can claim their abandoned property at any time of the year.
Last year, Lea, 61, returned $40 million worth of unclaimed property to its rightful owners.
"I'm proud of that," she said. "This was their money."
Lea, who lives in Russellville, completed her bachelor's degree after her three children became adults. She was 47 at the time. She served in the House from 2009-15 and previously was on the Pope County Quorum Court and Russellville City Council.
"I believe it's prudent to elect an auditor with a consistent record of due diligence and a thorough understanding of managing an operation of this size efficiently and effectively so that Arkansans are delivered with the services promised to them by law," Lea said. "My commitment to Arkansans will remain unchanged. I hope to continue streamlining operations so that Arkansans are met with quality and accommodating customer service whether online or in person."
Dinwiddie, 54, an auto mechanic from Pine Bluff, said he's challenging Lea because the state auditor's office is the best source of information on where the money is spent and potentially wasted.
"My slogan is, 'I'm actually going to audit.' The auditor can't make departments stop wasting money, but can identify where overlap and potential wasteful spending exists," Dinwiddie said. "Currently, nobody in state government does that."
State agencies have internal auditors. The staff of Legislative Joint Audit conducts audits of agencies, educational institutions and local governments and recommends action when irregularities are found.
If elected, Dinwiddie said he would create a quarterly "Waste Report" to pinpoint which programs need a better look.
Dinwiddie, who is unmarried and does not have children, said his interest in politics began when he was 5 and leaned out a car window at a stop light to hand out a bumper sticker promoting Dale Bumpers, who was running as a Democrat for governor. Bumpers later defeated the incumbent, Republican Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller.
Dinwiddie ran unsuccessfully several times for state office, including for lieutenant governor in 2014, District 25 state senator in 2012 and governor, as a write-in, in 2010.
"As a reporter for a weekly paper in 2000-01, I went to city council and quorum court meetings and wrote reports on local business statistics," Dinwiddie said. "I also served five years on the local water association, reviewing budgets and construction projects."
The auditor of state serves a four-year term and is paid an annual salary of $89,301.
Metro on 10/31/2018