By Steve Brawner, © 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.
The Democratic primary for governor March 3 pits Fred Love, a state senator born in Little Rock, against Supha Xayprasith-Mays, who immigrated to Fort Smith from Laos at age 5.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders awaits the winner in the November general election, along with Libertarian candidate Colt Shelby. Continue reading
Steve Brawner, © 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.
Voters in Arkansas are casting primary election ballots that are probably several offices longer than they should be.
Certain offices should definitely be elected: governor, members of Congress, mayors, city council members, county judges, quorum court members, and school boards.
These offices either make the laws voters live under, or they have ultimate authority in administering government as the chief executive, or, in school boards’ case, they set policies for taxpayer-funded public schools. They should answer directly to the governed.
On the other hand, voters shouldn’t elect offices that perform a specific, bureaucratic function. It’s not our role, and we often don’t have enough information about the office or the candidates. Continue reading
The March 3 primaries feature two state Senate primaries where Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders supports a challenger opposing a sitting Republican senator.
Both senators voted against her administration’s proposed Franklin County prison in the last legislative session.
The two are Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, of District 28, and Sen. Ronald Caldwell, R-Wynne, of District 10. King faces Bobby Ballinger, while Caldwell faces Trey Bohannan.
The support of Ballinger over King is not surprising. King is a bluntly speaking and cussedly independent senator who often clashes with Republican Party leadership – particularly Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, the Senate president pro tempore.
Caldwell is not an obvious thorn in the leadership’s side. But he did vote against funding the prison, which failed to make it out of the Senate last year after five votes but remains on the table.
We’ll focus on the District 28 race. It’s the third time King has faced a Ballinger. King defeated Ballinger’s dad, former state Sen. Bob Ballinger, to claim the seat in 2022. The elder Ballinger had ousted King from his state Senate seat in 2018. Continue reading
By Steve Brawner, © 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.
This year’s open primary elections in Arkansas will be a little more closed, but only to Democrats seeking to vote in the Republican primary.
Traditionally, every Arkansas voter freely could vote in the Republican, Democratic, or a nonpartisan primary. The latter voters cast a shorter ballot featuring only judicial and other nonpartisan races.
Some Republicans in recent years have argued that their primary should be reserved for Republicans. They’ve argued that crossover Democrats could be affecting the results.
That’s a reasonable position.
The counter argument is that less than 8.2% of the state’s voters are registered Republicans, so others would have to either declare their allegiance to a party or otherwise not vote. Not voting in the Republican primary in much of Arkansas means skipping the election that often matters the most. Continue reading
The Arkansas land commissioner is so low profile that most voters probably don’t know who the current officeholder is or what he does.
The officeholder should be easy: Tommy Land is the current land commissioner. He’s term-limited.
Running in the Republican primary to replace him are Secretary of State Cole Jester and Christian Olson. No Democrats filed. Continue reading