Former legislator Jay Martin seeks chief justice seat
Former state Rep. Jay Martin of Little Rock announced Wednesday he is running for chief justice of Arkansas next year.
Martin is a 53-year-old attorney and volunteer pastor who served in Arkansas’ House of Representatives from 20032007, including a stint as the House Democratic leader. He made unsuccessful bids for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 2006 and for governor in 2022.
He said in an interview he is running for chief justice because he has a passion for the law as a longtime attorney and he wants to protect “our constitutional rights and the Bill of Rights.” He described himself as a strict constructionist.
Martin has a strong record defending the freedoms of religion, the press, association, speech, gun ownership rights as well as all liberties afforded to “We, the People,” according to his campaign website.
Arkansas Supreme Court Justices Karen Baker, Barbara Webb and Rhonda Wood already have announced their bids for the chief justice post next year.
Martin said he will be “the outsider” in the chief justice race, and he would bring a fresh perspective as chief justice to the court as an attorney who has represented ordinary Arkansans in cases sometimes against government overreach.
He said the chief justice race is nonpartisan and he has been a conservative Democrat, who received only about 8% of the vote in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2022, so it seems he fares better with conservatives and Republicans than Democrats.
Martin is president of the Wallace, Martin, Duke & Russell law firm in Little Rock and a volunteer pastor at Metro Worship Center in Little Rock.
Along with Martin, Baker, Webb and Wood are running to succeed Chief Justice John Dan Kemp, starting in 2025. Kemp, who has served as the chief justice since 2017, has said he intends to retire at the end of his term in December 2024, noting that since he has passed age 70 he would have to relinquish his retirement benefits under state law if he was reelected.
In May, Baker announced her campaign for chief justice. She has served on the state Supreme Court since 2011. She serves in Position 6 on the high court.
Shortly thereafter, Wood announced her campaign for chief justice next year. She has served on the state Supreme Court since 2015. She serves in Position 7 on the high court.
Webb announced in late July her campaign for chief justice. She has served on the state Supreme Court since 2021. She serves in Position 4 on the high court.
About a month ago, state Supreme Court Justice Courtney Rae Hudson announced her bid for the Position 2 seat on the state Supreme Court formerly held by Justice Robin Wynne, who died in June.
On July 3, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed former U.S. Attorney Cody Hiland to the state Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by Wynne’s death until 2025. Hiland resigned as chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas before the Republican governor appointed him to the high court.
Hudson, who has served on the court since 2011, currently serves in the Position 3 seat on the court. She has said she is seeking the Position 2 seat vacated by Wynne because it would allow her to serve a few more years on the court before reaching mandatory retirement age. So far, no other candidate has announced a run for Wynne’s seat.
Along with electing a new Supreme Court chief justice and a justice to serve the remainder of Wynne’s term in the 2024 election, voters also will have to decide whether to reelect Justice Shawn Womack to Position 5 on the high court. Womack has served on the Supreme Court since 2017.
So far, no other candidate has announced a run for Womack’s seat.
The seven justices on the state Supreme Court are elected in statewide, nonpartisan elections and serve on the bench for eight-year terms. The salary for the chief justice is $219,902 a year and the salaries for the associate justices are $203,625 a year, according to the Arkansas Transparency website.
The filing period for candidates for federal and state offices in Arkansas will be from noon Nov. 6 through noon Nov. 14, 2023.
The judicial candidates will vie in a March 5, 2024, nonpartisan judicial election, which is held in conjunction with the primary election. If a runoff election is needed in the judicial races, the runoff would be Nov. 5, 2024, in conjunction with the general election.