By Steve Brawner, © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.
Retired Col. Marcus Jones took on some challenging missions during his 29 years in the Army. Now he faces an uphill battle as a civilian: reversing the fortunes of the Democratic Party of Arkansas.
The party’s State Committee elected the Jonesboro native as its unpaid state chair Aug. 16.
Jones challenged U.S. Rep. French Hill last year to represent the 2nd District in Congress, winning 41% of the vote. He considered various options after that defeat, including running for governor this year. After the party’s previous chair, Grant Tennille, announced he was resigning, party activists began contacting Jones about running for the position. His term ends in December 2026.
Tennille worked full-time for no salary and led the previously indebted party into a stronger financial footing. The party also managed to add a House seat in the Arkansas Legislature last year. It was the first time in 18 years its overall numbers had moved in a positive direction.
But it’s still a far cry from the Democrats’ previous perch as the state’s dominant party for 150 years. Democrats occupy no congressional or statewide offices and, in statewide elections, struggle to hit 40%. The state Legislature is more than 80% Republican.
“This is a tough time for Democrats in Arkansas,” Jones acknowledged in an interview. “I think that obviously there’s an opportunity for us to rebuild, and I have a skill set that is very useful in doing that and setting conditions and working with the party.”
Jones told State Committee members the party needs a five-year plan for the next two election cycles and two legislative sessions. He promised to produce a plan in 90 days. He said in the interview that the state party will assess and expand the capabilities of the party’s auxiliaries and county parties. Fundraising is always a major part of the job. He wants the party to tell donors specifically how it will use their money.
Candidate recruitment is the party’s current major focus. The filing period for next year’s elections starts Nov. 3. Jones wants to recruit candidates across the state while also focusing on the small number of competitive seats in the state Legislature. Those include a handful of seats in Pulaski County and northwest Arkansas. The party’s goal is to reach at least 25%-plus-one in the House or Senate. That percentage would ensure Democrats have a voice in passing appropriations bills, which require a 75% supermajority.
Jones inherits the party chairmanship at a challenging time for Democrats, and not just in Arkansas. Republicans control the White House and both the U.S. Senate and House, although barely so with the latter. A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that only 33% of voters nationally viewed the party favorably. The New York Times reported that Republicans are outpacing Democrats in party registration in the 30 states that maintain voter registration records by party.
Jones wants to take a page from history as he tries to rebuild the party at the state level. He’d like to see it adopt the approaches done by Sens. Dale Bumpers and David Pryor, who presented themselves as “Arkansas Democrats.” He said Democrats historically have won when they focused on bread and butter issues. Those would include public schools, health care, Medicaid, and how he said cuts by Republicans of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding will affect small businesses and grocery stores. He is not interested in controversial national cultural issues such as whether transgender boys should play girls’ sports. He said that issue affects only a a small number of people.
“It’s always a challenge in Arkansas, but I truly believe we have the message and policies and the values that most Arkansans, if we are ever to connect with them, listen to and align with,” he said.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for Jones and other Democrats in Arkansas is the same one facing Republicans in other states such as California. The United States has become two different/not-really-that-different countries with two parties, each of which fits better culturally with one of those countries. There may not be much Arkansas Democrats can do at the state level until something changes nationally.
That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try, just as Republicans should keep trying to build on their big majority here. For 150 years, Republicans weren’t expected to win, either.