Will any of the state’s four U.S. House races be particularly interesting this election cycle? The 2nd District became a little more so last week.

That’s the one featuring Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill and Democrat Chris Jones. 

Jones gained a little momentum Monday when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced he was one of six candidates across the country it had added to its Red to Blue program. The designation means Jones will have access to national organizational and fundraising support in the campaign’s final weeks. 

Democrats think he has a chance, in other words. Likewise, the well-regarded Sabato’s Crystal Ball election forecasting site recently moved the race from “Safe Republican” to “Likely Republican.”

Jones has been a nonprofit leader, physicist, and a minister and is a married father of three daughters. He won 35% of the vote running for governor in 2022 against now-Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

A central argument of his campaign is that life has gotten so expensive that people can’t take risks and innovate because they can’t afford to fail. He favors tackling the affordability problem by reining in tariffs and making health insurance premium benefits permanent. He opposes the Iran war. 

Hill, the incumbent, is a married father of two and was the founder and CEO of Delta Trust & Banking Corp. He previously was an official in the first Bush presidential administration. 

In other words, a bank founder faces a physicist, so we’re not hurting for brains in this race.

Hill has made his own attempts at addressing affordability. As the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, he played a major role in passing the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which is meant to encourage housing development. He is also on the Intelligence Committee. Hill recently expressed opposition to President Trump’s tariff policies in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He said Trump was right to see Iran as a threat but should have built a regional coalition to pressure it first.

Hill has always been the most vulnerable of Arkansas’ four Republican congressmen, and not because of his performance. His central Arkansas district has the most Democrats because it’s the home of Little Rock, and urban areas tend to lean that direction. Other than Pulaski County, however, the district is composed of Republican suburban and rural counties. The largest are Saline (Benton and Bryant), Faulkner (Conway) and White (Searcy). It also includes voters in Van Buren (Clinton), Perry (Perryville), Conway (Morrilton) and Cleburne (Heber Springs) counties. 

State legislators added Cleburne as part of the redistricting process following the 2020 census. The Republican majority spread out some Democratic voters in Pulaski County by placing them in the safe 1st and 4th Districts. Unfortunately, such gerrymandering is a part of our political process. Democrats in Democratic states do the same thing.

This is not the first time Hill has faced a Red to Blue opponent. Democrats bestowed he same designation on Clarke Tucker, then a state representative and now a state senator, in 2018. Hill won that race 52%-46% with a Libertarian candidate getting the rest of the votes. 

That race also occurred in a midterm election under President Donald Trump. This one has a different dynamic in that Trump’s approval ratings are lower nationally while inflation and gas prices are high and the Iran war continues. We’ll see if all that translates into this being a closer election. 

Hill has faced other strong Democratic opponents in the past. In his first campaign in 2014, he beat former North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Henry Hays 52%-44% in a four-candidate race. In 2020, he won with 55% of the vote against state Sen. Joyce Elliott of Little Rock. That race looked like it might be more competitive than it turned out to be on Election Day. He defeated retired Army Col. Marcus Jones in 2024 with 59% of the vote.

None of the state’s other U.S. House races figures to be very close, but let’s mention them out of respect for the incumbents and the challengers who stepped forward and put their names on the ballot.

– In eastern and northern Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District, Rep. Rick Crawford faces Democrat Terri Green, Libertarian Steve Parsons, and independent Jason Gaines

– Northwest Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District features Rep. Steve Womack facing Democrat Robb Ryerse, Libertarian Bobby Wilson, and independent Christopher Hocevar

– In southern and western Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District, Rep. Bruce Westerman faces Democrat James Russell

God bless them all. May the best candidates win. The election is Nov. 3. Early voting begins Oct. 19.

© 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 24 news outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.