Nogy wins Benton County Quorum Court nomination, tantamount to election

Faces unopposed election

ROGERS -- Leigh Nogy, who stayed active in Benton County Republican groups for more than 12 years, won the nomination for an unopposed election to the county's Quorum Court Tuesday night.

Nogy replaces the late Brent Meyers of Lowell on the Nov. 3 ballot for justice of the peace District 14. Incumbent Meyers was unopposed in both the party's primary and the general election. Cancer led to his resignation April 20, after attending Quorum Court meetings as late as March 23. He died five days after his resignation.

Nogy's nomination to the unopposed slot by a re-convened party's county convention is tantamount to election. The county party's regular convention was held April 7, to formally install primary winners as nominees.

The primary was March 3.

District 14 is in southeastern Benton County, roughly the area between I-49 on the west, Beaver Lake on the east, southern Rogers on the north and the Washington County line on the south. The district includes Lowell, Hickory Creek and Bethel Heights.

The 47 voting delegates in Tuesday convention picked Nogy over two opponents. A majority of voting delegates was required, Benton County Republican chairman Scott Brownell told the crowd of at least 70 present at the meeting, which was held at the New Hope Assembly of God in Rogers. The need for a majority led to two rounds of voting. The voting was held after the county party's regular business meeting, which started at 6:30 p.m.

Todd Fenix, a Lowell City Council member, was eliminated on the first ballot. The second round was between Nogy and Bethany Rosenbaum, who teaches history at the University of Arkansas. Vote totals were not announced and ballots were destroyed after the vote, making the nomination unanimous.

Logy co-owns the Dark Hills and the Whistling Spring breweries in Missouri along with her husband. She also works as a microbiologist in the food safety laboratory at Tyson Foods. She is a past president of the Benton County Republican Women and a former officer of the Benton County Republican Party, where she served as party secretary.

Kenny Bierman of Springdale is serving the remainder of Meyers' term, which expires at the end of the year. County Judge Barry Moehring swore Bierman into office July 2, after Gov. Asa Hutchinson picked Bierman to replace Meyers. Appointees cannot run for re-election under state law.

The county's Quorum Court is made up of 15 Republicans.

Jonathan Barnett, Arkansas National Committee member for the Republican Party, also attended the meeting. The state party is considering a rally in Little Rock during the national Republican convention in August since attendance to the convention is strictly limited because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, he said, but any such plan is in a very preliminary stage. The national convention, limited to 300 attendees with six from each state, is set for Aug. 24-27 in Charlotte, N.C.

Doug Thompson can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWADoug

Upcoming Events