State Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, said Monday that he's running for the state Senate seat held by Green Forest Republican Bryan King next year.
King said he won't decide whether to run for re-election until later this summer.
Rep. Charlotte Douglas, R-Alma, said she's considering running for the Senate seat, but her decision won't be based on whether King runs for re-election.
"It may be all three of us jumping in," she said.
King, a 5̶8̶-̶y̶e̶a̶r̶-̶o̶l̶d̶ 48-year-old* farmer, has served in the Senate representing District 5 since 2013 and was in the House of Representatives from 2007-13. Senate District 5 includes Madison County and parts of Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Sebastian and Washington counties.
Ballinger, a 43-year-old attorney, represents House District 97, which includes parts of Carroll, Madison and Washington counties. Douglas, a 65-year-old retired teacher, represents House District 75, which includes parts of Crawford and Sebastian counties. Both have served in the House since 2013.
"During my time as state representative, I've worked to reform our tax code, limit government spending, and protect family values," Ballinger said in a news release announcing his bid for Senate District 5. Ballinger noted that he pushed for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 2015.
"As a state senator, I will continue working with Governor [Asa] Hutchinson and other conservatives to ensure we finish the work on those important issues," he said. "Arkansans want effective leadership in the legislature. They want to know when they send someone to Little Rock, they are sending someone who will work with others to move Arkansas forward. There should be no room for bickering and grandstanding at our state Capitol."
Ballinger, chairman of the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in an interview that he made the decision to run for the Senate in the past month or so and he doesn't know whether King will run for re-election.
He said he was forced to give his house back to J.P. Morgan Chase Bank in January because he couldn't refinance his purchase of the house because the nature of his jobs as a state lawmaker and an attorney. He said his financial difficulties started when the real estate industry crashed and he was in the title business. He said he hopes people don't hold that against him.
King said his decision won't be influenced by Ballinger's decision to run for his Senate seat.
Ballinger said he's had a difficult time working with King, who is "my senator," and that hasn't helped his constituents. He said that "about 80 percent of the people in Little Rock" have a difficult time working with King.
But King said he's "held the line" in opposing Arkansas' Medicaid expansion and unsuccessfully proposed measures to disclose financial conflicts of interest involving lawmakers and the state's Medicaid program. He said several people are considering running for Ballinger's House seat.
"I don't think he would have been re-elected," King said.
King has been a staunch critic of Hutchinson. Asked whether Hutchinson plans to endorse Ballinger in his bid for King's seat, the governor's political strategist, Jon Gilmore, said the governor "won't be making endorsements this early."
Metro on 06/06/2017
*CORRECTION: Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, is 48. His age was incorrect in a previous version of this article.