Catsavis, Martin to face off in Fort Smith Director race, EMS fee increase approved

Fort Smith Director George Catsavis will face off against challenger Neal Martin for the Fort Smith Ward 4 City Director position on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

Following Tuesday night’s (Aug. 9) primary, Catsavis failed to capture the 50% needed to fend off his three challengers, but he received the most votes and came within five percentage points of clinching the position.

Catsavis joins fellow incumbent André Good in facing opposition on the November ballot. Good will defend his Ward 2 position against challenger Bruce Wade. Directors Keith Lau (Ward 1) and Mike Lorenz (Ward 3) are running unopposed.

FOUR’S A CROWD
Catsavis faced a crowded primary in his third city director election as opposed to the one each he faced in 2010 and 2012. Catsavis earned 750 votes (45.7%) while Martin did just enough to force his campaign into November, earning 672 votes (40.95%); Robyn Dawson finished third with 212 votes (12.92%); and Zachary Muncrief received seven votes (0.43%).

While a candidate should feel relieved to have pulled the most votes in a race like this one, Catsavis’ numbers since winning his first election have declined. He defeated previous opponent Patrick Jacobs by a healthy 14% margin in 2010, but two years later, just skated by challenger John Cooley, who earned more than 49% support and lost by only 69 actual votes.

If Martin makes a hard play for Dawson’s voters in the next 90 days, he could have enough to get there, and that’s what he intends to do.

“I do see an opportunity with Robyn’s supporters,” Martin said. “My goal is to immediately start reaching out to them to see how we align philosophically. With her support and my support from the numbers we’ve got tonight, we could potentially win it all and hopefully do some great things in November. I do think we align in a lot of ways, particularly with economic development philosophy and those kinds of big things she wanted to hit on that I wanted to hit on as well.”

Martin said he aligned well with many Dawson voters that he knew and felt “really good about going into November.”

“We ran a good campaign and worked hard.” he said.

Catsavis ended his primary evening feeling hopeful as well. He does not plan to campaign any differently.

“I’m just going to keep my name out there and meet more people, and do what I’ve been doing,” he said in comments to Talk Business & Politics following the count. “I don’t know what else to do other than what I’ve done. I will go to more homes I missed, door-to-door stuff that I missed.”

Catsavis said during the primary campaign, he visited between 500 and 600 homes.  Like Martin, Catsavis sees opportunity in Dawson’s supporters, claiming they will likely “be split 50-50 between me and Martin.”

“I’m happy with what came out of tonight, and I’m looking forward to the general election. I think some of the ones for me that weren’t as motivated to vote in the primary will make a strong showing. There’s just more work ahead.”

A win for Catsavis would give him 10 years on the Fort Smith Board of Directors by the time the term ends in 2020.

VOTER TURNOUT, OTHER RESULTS
City Director primaries are notorious for low voter turnout compared to general elections. For this particular primary, around 1,641 votes were cast, an improvement from the last city director primary when Ward 1 Director Keith Lau defeated Ken Pevehouse and Liz Berry Armstrong in 2012. In that contest, only 677 votes were cast with Lau earning just over 50% of that.

While Ward 4’s primary was well-attended this year, Catsavis and Martin will have to woo a lot more voters to their side for the general election. In 2010, 6,706 voters participated. In 2012 – another Presidential election year – that number rose to 8,991.

Also on Tuesday’s ballot, Sebastian County voters approved an increase in the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) ambulance fee from $18 to $43 in 2017 and $68 in 2018 to assist in offsetting EMS operating costs and planning for future increases. The measure passed with 862 voting “for” (55.12%) and 702 voting “against” (44.88%).