91 votes cast in early Fort Smith voting; Jacobs leader in fundraising

There were 91 votes cast in early voting between Tuesday and Friday in the lone primary race for the Fort Smith board of directors.

George Catsavis, Patrick Jacobs and Marshall Sharpe are candidates for Position 4, Fort Smith board of directors. The election for this three-way race is Aug. 10. If no candidate gains more than 50% of the vote, the top-two vote-getters will be on the Nov. ballot.

George Catsavis is a restaurant operator in Fort Smith. Patrick Jacobs is the assistant general manager at Fort Smith-based Carco International. Marshall Sharpe is the manager of audit programs at Fort Smith-based OK Industries. (Link here for a recent Q&A with the three candidates.)

Position 4 opened after Bill Maddox decided to step down in the middle of his four-year term.

In the 2008 board of directors primary race between Don Hutchings, Gary Marcotte and Ric Parrish, 105 early votes were cast, according to info from Deputy Sebastian County Clerk Angie Hatwig. That Position 3 election ended with 1,466 votes cast and Don Hutchings capturing 912 votes, or 62.2%. Because Hutchings received more than 50%, he did not face a November opponent that year.

In this primary, Jacobs has taken the lead in terms of fundraising. As of July 31, Jacobs had raised $9,925 in contributions. He spend $6,955 on his campaign and ended the reporting period with a $2,969 balance.

Catsavis had raised at least $1,714 as of Aug. 2, and spent $1,409 on the campaign. Sharpe raised $1,750 as of July 30, with $1,200 of that being a loan to his campaign. He spent $1,169 on the campaign as of July 30.

“I have done some mail outs, been doing a lot of door-to-door, attending all the forums/debates that I’m invited to, (and) going to as many meetings (on all subjects) that my schedule allows,” Sharpe said when asked about his campaign activity.

Sharpe said he will have people working the 12-precincts of Ward 4 on election day and will work the telephone to get out the vote.

“Word-of-mouth seems to be my best friend, for people that really know me, telling their friends,” Sharpe said. “It’s pretty simple, but all my flyers have been hand signed and folded by me for the personal touch. That’s what I’m promising Ward 4 residents.”