Lawmaker to run for mayor

State Rep. Bob Johnson, D-Jacksonville, announced Tuesday that he will run for mayor of Jacksonville in the November 2018 general election.

Johnson, 64, who grew up in Jacksonville, is in his second term in the Arkansas Legislature.

“I think Jacksonville needs some direction,” Johnson said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. “We need some change.

“I’m running because, in my heart, it’s time for me to do it, and I feel like I can do a really good job,” he said.

Mayor Gary Fletcher will be up for re-election next year.

“This is nothing against Gary himself,” Johnson said of his decision. “Jacksonville is just not going in the right direction, I don’t think. We need a change in leadership and we need to focus on getting everybody on the same page, having the same focus and the same dreams.”

Johnson will run for the nonpartisan office as an independent. Johnson switched political parties to be a Democrat in 2013 to run for state representative after serving on the Pulaski County Quorum Court for 10 years as a Republican.

“I’ll be an independent, which is what I am anyway,” Johnson said. “I’m just me. I don’t serve a party. I want to serve the people in Jacksonville. I’ve been training for this job for 14 years.”

Candidates cannot formally file for the November 2018 municipal election until next year.