Two state lawmakers sworn into office
Filling vacancies in the House, both will face challengers in November
State Reps. Richard McGrew, R-Hot Springs, and Joy Springer, D-Little Rock, were sworn into office on Tuesday by Arkansas Chief Justice Dan Kemp with about a dozen people watching and keeping a distance from each other in the state House of Representatives.
“You enter this chamber at an hour [in] which Arkansans are particularly looking to leadership from their state government,” House Chief of Staff Roy Ragland said in reading from a written statement from House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, who was unable to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
McGrew fills the vacancy in House District 22 created in October when then-Rep. Mickey Gates, R-Hot Springs, was expelled by the House after he pleaded no-contest to failing to pay state income taxes. McGrew is a former Garland County justice of the peace who remains involved in the business he created, McGrew Properties, a real estate holding and rental company.
“It is an honor to serve the people in District 22 and I will do the best job I can to represent them in a very respective manner,” McGrew said in brief remarks in the chamber after he was sworn in. He was accompanied by his wife, Debbie McGrew.
Springer fills the opening in House District 34, which became vacant with the death of civil rights attorney and state Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, in October. She is office manager at John W. Walker P.A.
In brief remarks in the chamber, Springer thanked her constituents in District 34 for trusting her to represent them.
“I will do my best to do what I said I would do,” said Springer, who was accompanied by her husband, Horace Springer. She has said she wants to carry on Walker’s legacy.
McGrew and Springer were elected to the House in special elections on March 3 and will complete the two-year terms that Gates and Walker were elected to in the 2018 general election. The terms run until the regular session, starting Jan. 11, 2021.
They will both serve on the House Education Committee and the House Aging, Children, Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs Committee.
McGrew said he doesn’t have any immediate goals.
“I have a tremendous amount to learn, so I want to sit back and take all I can in and see where it goes from there,” he said in an interview.
Springer said she doesn’t have any immediate goals in mind.
“I will participate in the fiscal session,” she said, referring to the budgeting session slated to start April 8. “I have already participated in some of the budget hearings. … I’ll listen and learn about things and, if I have questions, I’ll ask questions.”
In the Nov. 3 general election, McGrew will be challenged by Libertarian Judy Bowers of Hot Springs Village and Springer will be opposed by independent Roderick Talley of Little Rock for the next two-year term, starting Jan. 11, 2021.