Two presidential hopefuls among 31 campaign filings
The stream of candidates filing for office slowed to a trickle Tuesday, compared with how many showed up the day before at the state Capitol.
Election officials with the secretary of state’s office handled 31 filings from candidates — including two for the state’s Republican presidential primary — compared with the 139 who came Monday, which marked the first day of filing week. Filing ends Monday. Candidates for president, Congress, the Arkansas Legislature and court offices file at the Capitol.
Alan Cobb, a senior adviser on the campaign of Donald Trump, filed on behalf of the Republican presidential candidate. Trump, a real estate mogul and reality television personality from New York, did not make the trip to Little Rock to file his campaign’s paperwork.
Cobb said Trump is discussing a return to Arkansas, but the slate of early contests makes scheduling difficult.
He said that Arkansas’ March 1 primary — and its place in the southern “SEC Primary,” a day when seven southern states will hold their presidential primaries — makes Arkansas an important part of any campaign’s political calculus.
“It’s going to be a vigorous campaign,” Cobb said. “It’s a big deal, and Arkansas is a big part of it, no question about it.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also filed Tuesday through a surrogate, former U. S. Attorney Bud Cummins.
Cummins — who served five years as the U. S. attor-
ney of the Eastern District of Arkansas before leaving the post in 2006 — said he was not “exclusively” supporting Christie but that he filed the governor’s paperwork on behalf of his former colleague, who was a U. S. attorney in New Jersey before he ran for governor.
On Monday, former Gov. Mike Huckabee came to the Capitol with his wife, Janet, and was the first presidential contender to file with Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office.
Over the course of Monday, five other Republican candidates also filed through surrogates: U. S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; U. S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Dr. Ben Carson.
U. S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I- Vermont, filed papers Monday through the help of a surrogate, a Bryant antique store owner. Sanders is running for president as a Democrat.
Party filing fees for the Democratic presidential candidates were $ 2,500 while Republican contenders had to pay $ 25,000.
But it wasn’t just big- name national figures pushing paper in the Capitol. On Tuesday, prospective lawmakers and state and district judges also came to register their campaigns.
The former head of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, Will Bond, came in Tuesday morning to file for the Little Rock state Senate District 32 seat to be vacated by fellow Democrat David Johnson. Johnson filed Monday to run for a state district court seat covering the Jacksonville and Maumelle area.
“The first day of filing is always crazy, so I’ve always filed after the first day,” Bond said. “We’re excited to get it done and excited for the coming year.”
The state House Judiciary Committee chairman and three- term incumbent, Matt Shepherd, R- El Dorado, filed early Tuesday and was joined by his wife, Alie, and 6- yearold daughter.
When Shepherd was first elected in 2010, legislators were limited to three terms in the House of Representatives. But in November 2014, voters approved Amendment 94, which eased term limits for state legislators.
A practicing attorney, Shepherd said that with another opportunity to serve, he would like to build on the momentum that he and fellow Republican legislators have had over the past few years.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Shepherd said. “We can continue to work for greater efficiency in state government and then there are some areas where we can help Arkansans further by cutting taxes and removing [ government] red tape.”
Alie Shepherd said that she and her husband gave much thought and prayer for another run and felt it was “the right thing to do.”
“It’s definitely a sacrifice, but it’s worth it,” she said. “If he’s not going to do it, who is?”