Williams running in House 95 as Democrat

BELLA VISTA — Celeste Williams, 42, of Bella Vista will run as a Democrat for the state House District 95 seat currently held by Rep. Austin McCollum, R-Rogers. McCollum confirmed Monday that he will run for a second term.

“I’m not going to pretend to be something I’m not,” said Williams on why she was making the first Democratic bid for the district since 2002. This is Williams’ first bid for political office, she said. She described herself as a “Blue Dog Democrat,” a term used to describe Southern, socially and fiscally conservative Democrats.

Williams works as a nurse practitioner for Mercy Health Systems at its Centerton clinic. She and her husband, Kirk, are parents of two and foster parents of three children. They have lived in

Bella Vista for

15 years, moving into what is now District 95 six years ago, she said.

Williams grew up in Oklahoma and received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Okla., she said. She has a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, she said.

“Every day decisions are made in Little Rock and Washington that affect people’s health care,” Williams said. Too often, those decisions are made without a realistic idea of what those effects will be, she said.

“A lot of people were helped by the Affordable Care Act but it really hurt a lot of people in the middle class,” she said, referring to federal health care reform legislation passed in 2010. “A lot of people in the middle class are really struggling with health care costs. We also have an opioid epidemic that is affecting parents, leaving grandparents raising their grandchildren and having to skip meals so those children can have something to eat.”

Better-paying jobs and infrastructure including roads are big concerns in the district, which includes eastern Bella Vista along with Pea Ridge, Little Flock, Avoca and portions of Rogers, Williams said.

“A lot of people have no idea what a state representative can do for them or who their state representative is,” Williams said. “I hope I can change that.”

The public is invited to attend Williams’ campaign kickoff event at Las Fajitas in Bella Vista at 6 p.m. on Nov. 30. Williams will give a short speech, answer questions and meet with district constituents at the event, she said.