Draper announces candidacy for Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District
by October 24, 2023 8:53 am 1,750 views
Caitlin Draper of Fayetteville announced Tuesday (Oct. 24) she is running for Congress. Draper, a 34-year-old Democrat, will vie for the seat occupied by U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, a 66-year-old Republican from Rogers who has represented Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District since 2011.
“We deserve a member of Congress who answers to the people of Arkansas — not to his party leaders,” Draper said in a statement Tuesday.
Draper is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), small business owner and community advocate. Her clinical focus is on autism spectrum disorder and eating disorders.
According to a campaign announcement, Draper’s professional background includes a successful private practice, “where she has provided invaluable support to those facing these challenges and has had a front row seat to the destruction Republicans’ extreme power grabs have had on women and LGBTQ families.”
Draper earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from the University of Arkansas. She is an adjunct lecturer at the UA’s School of Social Work. She lives in Fayetteville with her husband.
“As a community member who cares deeply about our neighbors in Arkansas, I have been outraged at our elected leaders’ willingness to strip away our rights and failure to deliver on their most basic responsibilities to the American people,” Draper said. “From restoring reproductive freedom to lowering costs for working families, in Congress, I will fight every day to protect our democracy and deliver for the people of Arkansas with empathy, compassion, and accountability. Our families deserve no less.”
Womack, the former Rogers mayor (1999-2010), was first elected to Congress in 2010. He won his most recent re-election bid in 2022 with 63.7% of the vote.
Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District covers most of Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro.