Fort Smith/Van Buren area House, Senate races heat up

Two Arkansas House districts and the Arkansas Senate district representing the Fort Smith area officially became more competitive Thursday with the candidate filings of Sen. Denny Altes, and Reps. Frank Glidewell and Stephanie Malone.

Also, Fort Smith attorney Gunner DeLay filed as a Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District. The 3rd District race now has eight official candidates, with all but one — Democrat David Whitaker of Fayetteville — filing as Republicans.

Altes, a Republican, filed to challenge Republican J.R. Dallas in the House District 63 seat. Glidewell, a Republican who is term limited in the District 63 seat, filed in the Senate District 13 seat. The Senate seat, which represents Fort Smith, will have at least three Republicans battling it out in the May 18 primary. Former Reps. Jake Files and Jim Medley have also filed for the seat.

Malone, a Republican finishing her first term, seeks re-election to the House District 64 seat. She is being challenged in the Republican primary by Fort Smith City Director Gary Campbell.

Dianna Faucher filed as a Democrat for the House District 66 seat that represents the Van Buren area. The seat has been held by a Republican — former Rep. Mary Beth Green and Rep. Rick Green who is now term limited — for the past 12 years. Republicans Gary Deffenbaugh and Kevin Holmes have filed as Republicans for the District 66 seat.

The filing period began Monday (Mar. 1) for federal, state and legislative seats. Following are the names of those who filed in the races monitored by The City Wire. The filing period ends at Noon, Mar. 8. The City Wire will post candidate filings at the end of each day.

Following are filings for the first four days. The names of those who filed Thursday are in bold.

• FEDERAL
3rd Congressional District
State. Sen. Cecile Bledsoe (R)
Gunner DeLay (R)
Steve Lowry (R)
Kurt Maddox (R)
Benton County Judge Mike Moore (R)
Bernie Skoch (R)
David Whitaker (D)
Rogers Mayor Steve Womack (R)

U.S. Senate
U.S. Rep. John Boozman (R)
Curtis Coleman (R)
Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D)
Sen. Kim Hendren (R)
U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln
D.C. Morrison (D)
Fred Ramey (R)

• ARKANSAS CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICES
Governor
Jim Keet (R)

Lt. Governor
Sen. Shane Broadway (D)
Mark Darr (R)

Secretary of State
Rep. Mark Martin (R)
Pat O’Brien (D)
Doris Tate (D)
Mark Wilcox (D)

Attorney General
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel (D)

Treasurer
State Treasurer Martha Shoffner (D)

Auditor of State
Secretary of State Charlie Daniels (D — and not the Devil-went-down-to-Georgia Charlie Daniels)

Land Commission
Mark Berg (D)
Rep. Monty Davenport (D)

• ARKANSAS HOUSE & SENATE (Fort Smith region)
House District 62 (Scott County, southern Sebastian county)
Rep. Terry Rice (R)

House District 63 (Fort Smith)
Sen. Denny Altes (R)
J.R. Dallas (R)

House District 64 (Fort Smith)
Fort Smith City Director Gary Campbell
Rep. Stephanie Malone (R)

House District 65 (Fort Smith)
Rep. Tracy Pennartz (D)

House District 66 (Van Buren)
Gary Deffenbaugh (R)
Dianna Faucher (D)
Kevin Holmes (R)

House District 67 (eastern Sebastian County, southern Franklin County)
Rep. Steve Breedlove (D)
Gary Stubblefield (R)

House District 83 (central Crawford County, central Franklin County)
Tom Fite (R)
Leslee Milam Post (D)

House District 84 (Logan County, eastern and norther Franklin County)
Jon Eubanks (R)
David Rush (D)

House District 87 (northern Crawford County, southern Washington County)
Justin Harris (R)
Earl Hunton (D)

Senate District 6 (south and east Sebastian County, Scott County, western Logan County, north Polk County)
Bruce Holland (R)
Rep. John Paul Wells (D)

Senate District 13 (Fort Smith)
Jake Files (R)
Rep. Frank Glidewell (R)
Jim Medley (R)

• COUNTY RACES
Crawford County
County Judge
County Judge John Hall (D)

Sheriff
Ron Brown (D)

County Clerk
County Clerk Teresa Armer (D)

Circuit/Chancery Clerk
Circuit Clerk Sharon Blount (D)
Jill Gregory (D)

Treasurer
Joyce Landers (D)

Tax Collector
Sandy Cook (D)

Assessor
Connie Beyerle (D)
Ronnie Dale (R)

Sebastian County
Sheriff
Frank Atkinson (D)
Bill Hollenbeck (D)

County Judge
County Judge David Hudson (R)

County Clerk
Angie Hatwig (D)
Sharon Brooks (R)

Circuit Clerk
Cindy Gilmer (D)
Ken Blevins (R)

Assessor
Assessor Becky Yandell (R)

Treasurer
Treasurer Judith Miller (R)