Goodson, Sterling in Supreme Court runoff; Thurston leads Drown for Secretary of State
by May 22, 2018 11:35 pm 686 views
Justice Courtney Goodson and Department of Human Services Chief Counsel David Sterling are headed for a runoff in the Arkansas Supreme Court race, while Commissioner of State Lands John Thurston was leading in the secretary of state’s race.
Late Tuesday (May 22), Goodson led the three-person race with 37.10% of the vote. Sterling was second with 34.08%. Court of Appeals Judge Kenneth Hixson trailed with 28.82%.
Because no candidate reached 50%, Goodson and Sterling will face each other in a runoff as part of the general election Nov. 6.
Goodson was leading with 109,508 votes, while Sterling had 100,606 and Hixson had 85,077.
Sterling issued a statement on the runoff late in the evening.
“The voters are already differentiating between the two of us. The overwhelming majority of voters have rejected the incumbent,” Sterling said. “I look forward to presenting my philosophy of judicial conservatism to Arkansans.”
The race was marked by expenditures by two outside groups that supported Sterling, the Judicial Crisis Network and the Republican State Leadership Committee.
In the secretary of state’s race, Thurston was leading state Rep. Trevor Drown, R-Dover, 51-49%. Thurston had 94,868 votes while Drown totaled 90,426.
In the general election, the Democratic Party nominee is Susan Inman, director of elections for former Secretary of State Sharon Priest and former Pulaski County election director.
The Libertarian nominee is Christopher Olson, a certified mental health paraprofessional.