BENTONVILLE -- State Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, will run for a fifth term, he announced Thursday.
"I've enjoyed representing the people of District 93, feel like I'm doing a good job and want to continue serving my community," Dotson said in a telephone interview.
District 93 consists mostly of Bentonville and much of Centerton. It extends from Cave Springs in the south to the northern limits of Bentonville.
Dotson is vice chairman of Legislative Council, the group of lawmakers who oversee government operations while the Legislature isn't in session. He's also a former majority whip for House Republicans.
His tenure in the Legislature and relationships there he built over the years prepare him to both advocate for and protect district interests, he said. So far he has no announced opposition.
Dotson's actions in the last legislative session were vital in keeping millions of taxpayer dollars available to the Bentonville School District rather than going to other districts under a new state facilities funding formula, district Superintendent Debbie Jones said last month.
The proposed change in the funding formula is an example of the importance of experience, Dotson said Thursday.
"I was in the right place at the right time with the right amount of experience," he said. "You never know when those type of things come up. That issue came up after the last election and wasn't under consideration probably even a year ago. It came up in the last few months of last year, just before the session."
The district's voters want government to be as unobtrusive as possible in their daily lives, Dotson said. That means not burdening voters with too much regulation or taxes but, at the same time, making sure they aren't standing in long lines at the state revenue office, he said.
The GOP primary is set for March 3. Candidate filing for partisan offices begins at noon Nov. 4 and ends at noon Nov. 12. The general election is Nov. 3. State House members serve two-year terms and have an annual salary of $39,400.
NW News on 05/31/2019