Incumbent Keaton Smith went into the final week of his reelection campaign for Fayetteville School Board with a lead in fundraising over challenger Heather Clouse, their latest campaign finance reports show.
Smith's campaign raised $9,500 while spending $3,604, leaving him with $5,896 in cash on hand going into the May 9 election, his campaign finance report shows. The report covers the period from March 1 to May 1. Early voting began Tuesday.
Clouse spent more, showing expenditures of $5,247 in the same time period, but had no cash remaining, according to the report. However, her report was turned in April 28, four days before Smith's, according to the time stamp by the Washington County Clerk's Office.
Clouse received a total of $3,550 in donations from 10 people, the largest being a $2,000 contribution from Alan Davison of Rogers.
Smith's $9,500 came from 91 donors. His largest donations were two $500 contributions, from Margaret Tremwel and Hershey Garner, both of Fayetteville, according to his finance report.
Smith and Clouse seek the Fayetteville board's at-large, Position 2 seat. The winner will receive a five-year term. Since the position sought is at-large, all voters in the district are eligible to vote in this race.
Smith, 38, was elected in 2018 and seeks a second term. He is a commercial relationship manager at First Horizon Bank. Clouse, 46, is a former education/disability specialist for Northwest Arkansas Head Start.
School board members in Arkansas are unpaid volunteers.
SPRINGDALE
There's also a race for an at-large seat on the Springdale School Board. Incumbent Michelle Cook, 50, is running against Donald Tippett, 58. Neither candidate had filed a campaign finance report as of Friday, according to the Washington County Clerk's Office.
SILOAM SPRINGS
Aric Bergthold has outraised and outspent his opponent, Gary Wheat, in the race for the Siloam Springs School Board's Zone 3 seat, their campaign finance reports show.
Bergthold, 40, had raised a total of $2,249 from 14 donors as of Tuesday. Half of that amount -- $1,100 -- came from State Sen. Tyler Dees of Siloam Springs. Dees also gave stakes to Bergthold's campaign, valued at $45, according to the finance report. Bergthold has spent $2,620, according to his report.
Wheat, 56, reported receiving and spending $849, all of which came from himself and his wife, Krystal Wheat. Wheat's report covered the period of Feb. 1 through Tuesday.
Bergthold and Wheat are running for the seat currently held by Audra Farrell, who opted not to run for reelection.
PEA RIDGE
The only other school board race in Northwest Arkansas to be settled this week is in Pea Ridge, where Ryan Heckman is challenging incumbent Adam Yager.
Heckman, 44, reported receiving $300 -- all from Clark and Susan Heckman of Faucett, Mo. -- and spending $400 as of Monday.
Yager, 37, had not filed a campaign finance report as of Friday, according to the Benton County Clerk's Office.