By Steve Brawner, © 2024 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Let’s talk about the treasurer’s race, one of two statewide elections in Arkansas this year, the other being for state Supreme Court chief justice.

The treasurer is the state’s banker. It accepts more than $70 million in deposits daily and credits them to the appropriate accounts. It also manages the state’s $11.6 billion investment portfolio in concert with the State Board of Finance.

This year’s is a special election because the elected officeholder, Mark Lowery, died in office. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Larry Walther to finish the term.

The candidates are Secretary of State John Thurston, a Republican; Democrat John Pagan, a law professor and former state senator; and Libertarian Dr. Michael Pakko, an economist. The winner would have to stand for re-election in 2026. 

As secretary of state, Thurston is in charge of elections. If he wins, Sanders would appoint his replacement to complete the term’s final two years.

In an interview, Thurston touted his 14 years in state government. He’s also been land commissioner. He said his offices always have received clean audits. Furthermore, he’s worked with people across Arkansas while serving in those positions.

“You want someone that’s going to be accountable, make sure everything reconciles, transparent, and has the relationships across the state with the stakeholders, the ones that you’re actually working with,” he said.

Thurston, who has an economics degree, said he will be conservative with the taxpayers’ money. His strategy would focus on low-risk investments that ensure the money is safe and that cash is available to pay the state’s bills. Trying to get a higher return on investment would be a lower priority. 

Pagan taught law and history for 40 years as a college professor and served six years as dean of the University of Richmond School of Law, so he also has management experience. He also served on the Revenue and Taxation Committee when he was in the state Senate in 1991-92, and he served two terms on the Pulaski County Quorum Court.

He said he would manage the treasurer’s office efficiently and based on business factors. Like Thurston, he would emphasize safety and liquidity and then return. He’d like to see proceeds from the state’s investments be used to increase stipends for the lottery-funded Academic Challenge Scholarship, which would require legislative authorization.

Pagan faulted the Legislature for passing a law in 2023 requiring the treasurer to compile a list of financial services providers that discriminate against fossil fuel companies, gun or ammunition makers, or make other decisions based on “ESG” – environmental, social justice and governance – factors. The treasury would have to divest from those providers. 

Pagan said some of those firms have profited the taxpayers and shouldn’t be blacklisted.

“I don’t think my philosophy should enter into any – or any treasurer’s ideology should enter into – investment decisions,” he said.

Thurston said he agrees with the spirit of the law in that he favors energy independence and gun rights, but he questions its workability. Only a small number of financial institutions can handle an account as large as the state’s. If they all have ESG programs, the state would be placed in a difficult situation. 

Pakko, the Libertarian, said the law contains an opt-out clause, so he doesn’t expect it to be a big issue.

Pakko is chief economist and state economic forecaster at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Arkansas Economic Development Institute. His yearly state economic forecast has made him somewhat well-known in Arkansas business circles. Previously, he was a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for 16 years.

Similar to Thurston and Pagan, Pakko said he would prioritize protection of principal followed by assuring liquidity and then return on investment. He also would emphasize fiscal transparency and explaining the state’s finances. The state treasurer is the chair of the Arkansas Financial Education Commission. That would be a good fit for him, he said.

Pakko, who has been state Libertarian chair since 2015, said not being a Republican or Democrat is a strength. 

“The treasurer’s job is to keep an eye on the people’s money, and I just posed a simple question: Doesn’t it just make sense to have someone who’s not a part of the two-party duopoly and the special interests that they represent, as a separate set of eyes on the books for the state?” he said.

To learn more about the three candidates, watch their joint appearance on the Arkansas PBS show “Arkansas Week” online. It was kind of feisty, for a contest to elect the state’s banker.

Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 17 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.