Hammer edges Norris in GOP Secretary of State runoff

The race for the Republican nomination for Arkansas Secretary of State was a nail biter on Tuesday (March 31) as State Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, appeared to squeak out a close victory over Bryan Norris.

According to unofficial results from the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office, Hammer had 40,876 votes (50.58%) to Norris’ 39,938 votes (49.42%).

The race was closely contested all night with just 92,124 of the state’s 1.796 million voters casting ballots in the GOP runoff.

If the results stand when certified, Hammer would face Democrat Kelly Grappe and Libertarian Michael Pakko in the fall general election.

“Thank you to everyone who took the time to cast a ballot in this runoff election. When citizens participate, our democracy is strengthened. and our Republic grows stronger,” said Hammer in a late-night election post.

Besides several House of Representatives and county offices on the ballot, the Secretary of State’s race was the only statewide runoff.

In the lone State Senate runoff, State Rep. Tara Shephard, D-Little Rock, defeated Democratic primary challenger Charity Smith-Allen 58.7%-41.3% in the Senate District 15 race. There are no other general election candidates in this race.

There were a number of State Representative primary runoffs on Tuesday. The unofficial results in each House District are listed below:

House District 5
GOP Runoff
Mike Bishop – 59%
Jeff Pratt – 41%

House District 6
GOP Runoff
Cody Rogers – 50.77%
Hunter Rivett – 49.23%

House District 35
Democratic runoff
Audrey Willis – 60.88%
Joyce Ann Gray – 39.12%
Willis will face Republican Robert Thorne, Jr. in general election.

House District 46
GOP runoff
Tonya Fletcher – 55%
Curtis Varnell – 45%

House District 52
GOP runoff
Brent Montgomery – 50.4%
Kristin Thompson – 49.6%