Democrat Nick Cartwright announced Monday that he would leave the race for Arkansas' 2nd Congressional District and instead seek election to the state Senate.
Cartwright, a rural organizer from Romance, launched his campaign in July for the Democratic nomination to challenge the Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. French Hill, for the congressional seat covering Central Arkansas.
He will now run for the newly drawn state Senate District 18, which covers all of White County and parts of Faulkner and Cleburne counties. State Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, who has served in the chamber since 2011 after one two-year term in the state House, is seeking reelection to the District 18 seat.
In a statement Monday, Cartwright said the campaign had not raised enough money to mount a competitive race against Hill in 2022 and that he looked forward to supporting the eventual Democratic nominee.
"After more than three months in the race for Arkansas' 2nd Congressional District, it is clear that my efforts would be best spent organizing locally in White County for the 2022 cycle," Cartwright said in the statement.
He said a narrower focus would boost Democratic efforts in a part of Arkansas where the party has struggled to find candidates at the state level for several cycles.
"It will also ensure that Democrats are reaching into communities we have not organized in for some time," he said, adding that District 18 "deserves representation in the state Senate that will fight for our public schools, small businesses and rural communities."
Cartwright said in an interview that Dismang is "a good guy" with whom he disagrees on policy, and that he wanted to focus on expanding access to broadband in rural areas and making it more affordable.
Reached by phone Monday, Dismang said he was not familiar with Cartwright but welcomed him to the race. He said he had not yet formally announced his campaign because he was focused on an upcoming special session on tax cuts.
In a statement, Hill said the people of Central Arkansas sent him back to Congress with a resounding victory just over a year ago.
"It's an honor to serve them, and I'm going to continue working hard for them," Hill said.
Cartwright's announcement came just over three weeks after the deadline for candidates to submit their third-quarter campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission. He had reported raising nearly $18,000 and spending nearly $12,000.
With just over $6,000 on hand, Cartwright said he planned to pay off campaign expenses through the rest of the year and consider transferring remaining funds to the state Senate campaign.
Hill had reported raising more than $835,000 in contributions.
Quintessa Hathaway, an educator and entrepreneur from Sherwood, is the other announced Democratic candidate in the 2nd Congressional District race. She did not file a third-quarter fundraising report.
In an interview, she congratulated Cartwright on his campaign and said he would do a phenomenal job running for the state Senate. She said her campaign had received contributions and was "still in the process of collecting enough funds," but she said she was focused on grassroots campaigning and believed that more money would come.
"We're still in this thing for the win," Hathaway said.
In a statement Monday, Democratic Party of Arkansas Chairman Grant Tennille referenced President Joe Biden's recently passed $1 trillion infrastructure package, which Hill voted against, as well as the recently drawn congressional districts.
"Voters want a Congressperson who will vote for bipartisan infrastructure plans and invest in our communities. New maps were only recently drawn and are not yet official. Republican attempts at gerrymandering and voter suppression can't change the fact that the people deserve a Representative who cares about the needs of the Second District," he said.
The new lines for U.S. representatives, which were approved by the Legislature in October and became law without the governor's signature, split Pulaski County among three different congressional districts. The state's most populous county has been entirely in the 2nd Congressional District since the 1960s.
Voting-rights advocates say the new map, which shifts 21,000 Black residents of Pulaski County to the 1st and 4th districts, dilutes the minority-group vote.
Barring a legal challenge, the laws establishing the new map -- Act 1114 and Act 1116 -- go into effect Jan. 14, according to an opinion from Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.
Separately, the Arkansas Board of Apportionment approved new legislative districts last month, kicking off a 30-day public comment period. The board is scheduled to reconvene Nov. 29 to incorporate feedback and make any technical adjustments before giving final approval. The maps become law Dec. 30, barring any legal barrier.