Filings Show Primary Advantage For Elliott And Hester

As campaign financial filings trickle into the Secretary of State’s office, we can begin to see some advantages for certain state legislative candidates, particularly those facing the possibility of a primary challenge in the spring.

It looks like State Sen. Joyce Elliott (D-Little Rock) may win the award for the most money raised in the quarter, bringing in $59,180 in contributions for $60,628 cash-on-hand.  She faces a potential primary from term-limited State Rep. Fred Allen (D-Little Rock), who does not appear to have begun raising money for a senate campaign yet, but does show $12,234 in carry-over funds.

In Northwest Arkansas, political newcomer Bart Hester has raised $32,925 with almost all of it still on hand for the Republican primary for the new Senate District 1.  (Of note, much of Hester’s support comes from Crossland/Oelke businesses). Political veteran State Rep. Tim Summers (D/R-Bentonville) is behind, having raised $28,320 with $24,369 cash on hand.

In one of the state’s hottest Senate races in Conway, State Rep. Linda Tyler (D-Conway) leads the fundraising race (for the quarter but not cumulative) with $19,550 over State Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Bigelow) with $16,720. Rapert leads with cash-on-hand of $17,808 over Tyler’s $13,702.

Warwick Sabin could be the top fundraiser for House races with $46,303 for his Democratic primary in the Heights/Hillcrest section of Little Rock. Sabin faces the possibility of several opponents in his primary, including Bridgette Frazier, Mark Robertson, and Kirk Bradshaw.

Also worth noting is the filing from the Democratic Party of Arkansas, which continues to spend quite a bit on consultants.  Last quarter, they showed expenditures of $43,115 with $15,000 to Wright Strategies (Zac Wright‘s firm – former campaign manager for Beebe and now with the Clark Hall for Congress campaign), $15,150 to The Markham Group, and $12,965 to Reger Research (owned by Alan Reger famous for opposition research.) So it appears their strategy of digging up as much dirt on their opponents as possible will continue.

UPDATE:  See additional note on the Tyler-Rapert Senate race in Conway.  I was correct that Tyler does lead for the quarter but as a reader pointed out, Rapert leads overall with $28,970 cumlulative to Tyler’s $19,550.

Also, worth noting is a donation to Republican Senate candidate Mike Akin down in southeast Arkansas – a $1,000 from former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Interesting footnote – Huckabee lists his North Little Rock address not his Florida one.  Akin has also put in $25,000 of his own money.  His potential Democratic opponent former State Rep. Gregg Reep raised $7,750 with cash on hand $5,275.