VAN BUREN -- Two new justices of the peace will join the Crawford County Quorum Court after winning their Republican primary election Tuesday while one seat will require a runoff election in April for the Republican nomination, according to complete but unofficial results.
Lloyd Cole beat Quincy Cook for the District 4 Quorum Court seat and will replace Jeff Beauchamp, who was appointed to the seat in May and therefore was ineligible to run for it.
Steven Johnson defeated Buddy Herring for the District 13 seat and will replace Roger Atwell, who opted not to run for a fourth term.
Their primary wins mean both Cole and Johnson will take their respective seats in January as neither one faces additional competition in the November general election.
The race for the District 5 seat, however, is far from settled as there will be a runoff election April 2 between the top two finishers, Jonathon Baker and incumbent Brad Martin in what was a three-person race in the Republican primary. John Carl Hendrick placed third. The winner of the runoff will advance to the general election in November to face Aneisha LeMonier, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Vote totals were:
District 4
Cole 270 (52%)
Cook 253 (48%)
District 5
Martin 219 (44%)
Baker 146 (29%)
Hendrick 134 (27%)
District 13
Johnson 318 (53%)
Herring 282 (47%)
Vote totals are unofficial and will not be certified until March 15 to allow time to process provisional ballots.
Cole, 73, has been a resident of Crawford County for 28 years. He is a retired state parole officer and retired Army veteran. Cole returns to the District 4 seat after two unsuccessful campaigns in 2020 and 2022. Before that he served in the position for 14 years. Cole has a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Wisconsin.
Baker, 48, has been a resident of Crawford County for eight years. He owns Silverlight Insurance and Professional Services as well as the Silverlight Testing Center in Van Buren. Baker served as the Crawford County District 5 constable since 2023. He ran unsuccessfully for a Van Buren City Council position in 2020 and Crawford County District 5 justice of the peace in 2018.
Baker received a bachelor's degree in general studies from the American Military University in Charles Town, W.Va.; a bachelor of church ministry degree from the Sure Foundation Theological Institute in Seminole, Fla.; an associate degree in interdisciplinary studies from the American Military University; and an associate of Christian studies degree from the Sure Foundation Theological Institute. He also attended Columbia International University in Columbia, S.C.
"The most pressing issue is assessment and planning," Baker said. "In the time I've lived here it seems there's always a disposition and lack of assessment and planning. A lot of the time it seems as though we're playing catch-up -- we need to stop playing catch-up and play now."
Martin declined an interview with the River Valley Democrat-Gazette.
Johnson, 53, has been a resident of Crawford County for three years. He is the dean of students at Mountainburg Elementary School. This is his first political position.
Johnson has a master's degree in agricultural education and a bachelor's degree in agricultural education from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
"For several years I've thought 'what can I do to give back,' and I've done a lot of things in public service...what can I do for the area we live in now," Johnson said about his decision to run for Quorum Court.