How important is a candidate’s use of online “salty language”? The question arose last week regarding past messages posted on the X social media platform by Bryan Norris, candidate for secretary of state.

Norris placed first in a three-person race in the Republican primary March 3. He faces state Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, who finished a close second, in the March 31 runoff. The runoff is necessary because no candidate won a majority.

The secretary of state’s most noteworthy duty is being in charge of elections at the state level. The officeholder also maintains and secures the State Capitol and administers business filings. 

Norris’ posts came to light on social media last week. In one, he spelled out “f- you” in all caps in a comment directed at Sen. Tom Cotton. Several other posts also are not publishable in a family newspaper.

There was another where he said President Lyndon Johnson, the CIA and Israel assassinated President John F. Kennedy. He told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he was “probably halfway asleep when I wrote that, if I did.”

In an interview with KATV reporter Daniela Dehaghani that is available on the station’s YouTube channel, Norris said he was frustrated with Cotton because his office had not been helpful when Norris faced a personal issue when he retired from the military.

Norris: “I’m a human being that makes mistakes”

Norris, a retired 21-year veteran, said soldiers use “salty” language. He told Dehaghani that his wife has been trying to get hm to clean it up. He said he would not be using that language as secretary of state.

“I’m a human being that makes mistakes from time to time, and the best I can do is fix those mistakes and correct them as I move forward,” he said.

In a statement he texted, Norris said he is the target of a smear campaign by the Republican establishment and contrasted his record with Hammer’s.

State elected officials have endorsed Hammer, a Baptist pastor who almost certainly doesn’t use much profanity. Those included Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Attorney General Tim Griffin, Lt. Governor Leslie Rutledge and Cotton. Current Secretary of State Cole Jester called on Norris to quit the race after the X posts surfaced. Norris, the outsider, has been endorsed by several notable national allies of President Trump, including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

Paper ballots, election security, and the initiative process

Norris’s introduction to Arkansas politics came with his leadership of an Independence County (Batesville) voter-led initiative requiring paper ballots, and he has made election security one of the centerpieces of his campaign. He said private companies using unsecure source code own the guts of the state’s voting machines. 

While Norris passed the paper ballot initiative in Independence County, Hammer passed legislation in 2023 requiring counties that use paper ballots to pay for their printing, among other provisions. He does not favor a switch to paper ballots, saying that no one has demonstrated that the machines have led to stolen elections in Arkansas.

Norris criticized Hammer for his sponsorship of a legislative package that would make it more difficult for citizen-led efforts to change the Constitution and pass initiated acts. The latter are laws that voters enact.

Hammer’s laws included one that would require signature-gatherers to ensure signers have read the measure in their presence. Another would require voters to present a photo ID to the canvassers. Another would require canvassers to inform signers that petition fraud is a crime. 

Hammer’s argument is that it’s too easy for out-of-state entities to corrupt the process for their own benefit, and it’s too easy for groups to mislead signers.

The argument’s other side is that the laws would make it much harder for voters to engage in citizen-led direct democracy. Judge Timothy Brooks agreed that those aforementioned ones went too far. He issued a preliminary injunction last November while letting other laws sponsored by Hammer stand. 

Voting starts March 24 and concludes March 31. The winner will face Democrat Kelly Grappe and Libertarian Michael Pakko in the November election. 

The runoff will likely decide the next secretary of state because the state is so Republican. Turnout will be very light as this is the only statewide race on the ballot.

In other words, a small percentage of voters will probably choose the state official responsible for making sure everyone’s votes are counted accurately. 

That’s a darn shame.

© 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 23 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.

Related: Hammer vs. Harrison vs. Norris for SOS