Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Clowney defeats Kinion
Benton County lawmaker margins razor thin
First-time candidate Nicole Clowney won the Democratic nomination for Fayetteville’s District 86 House race where she defeated experienced politician Mark Kinion.
“I want to thank Mark Kinion,” Clowney said in a statement. “His service to this community and his involvement in the ongoing fight for human rights demand our deepest respect.”
In Carroll County, incumbent state Sen. Bryan B. King of Green Forest was falling behind Rep. Bob Ballinger of Hindsville in late returns for the Republican primary for King’s Senate District 5 seat.
Northwest Arkansas ballots contained four state Senate races and five state House races in total Tuesday.
Clowney succeeded in channeling support from Moms Demand Action, an anti-gun violence group she helped bring to Northwest Arkansas. Opponent Mark Kinion is an eight-year veteran of
politics at the local level, having served two terms on the Fayetteville City Council. He was also the Democratic nominee for Washington County judge in 2016.
District 86 covers downtown Fayetteville and the northwest section of the city. The district includes the University of Arkansas campus and stretches north to Johnson and west past Rupple Road.
House 86 is one of the most reliable Democratic seats in the House. The district’s current House member, Rep. Greg Leding, served four terms and faced one GOP challenge in 2012. Leding won with more than 60 percent of the vote. Leding gave up his seat to run for state Senate following the announced retirement of state Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, whose term ends after this year.
Clowney faces no major party opposition in the general election Nov. 6. House terms are for two years.
Clowney, 35, worked with the national nonprofit Children’s Law Center, which helps minors with legal needs, before moving to Arkansas four years ago. Clowney said during the campaign she is experienced in bringing people to common ground. She teaches Greek and Latin history and language classes at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Kinion, 61, works as a residential mortgage loan officer with Bank of England Mortgage. He is a former chairman of the Fayetteville Housing Authority, a former president of the Humane Society of the Ozarks, is active in the Sierra Club environmental group and is a former chairman of the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods. Kinion said he is the first openly gay man to run for state office and he would have brought that voice to debates about civil rights protections.
SENATE DISTRICT 5
The King versus Ballinger race was one of only two in which the governor, Asa Hutchinson, made an endorsement in his party’s primary. He supported Ballinger. His other endorsement was in a state Senate race in Batesville.
King is a long- time opponent to accepting federal taxpayer money under the governor’s “Arkansas Works” health care program. King openly supported Jan Morgan, the governor’s rival in the primary, who also opposes the plan.
King is a rancher who has served in the House and Senate since 2007. Ballinger is an attorney who has served in the House since 2013.
Senate District 5 curves from the Missouri line to Oklahoma through Madison County, most of Carroll and Crawford counties, and part of Franklin, Johnson and Washington counties. Final though unofficial results were: 3,918 for Ballinger to 3,591 for King.
The winner faces Democrat Jim Wallace and Libertarian Lee Evans in November.
HOUSE DISTRICT 90
Benton County saw three races with political newcomers trying to unseat incumbent Republican lawmakers. Final Benton County results were so close in two of those races, yet- tobe counted provisional, overseas and military votes could change the results.
Rep. Jana Della Rosa of Rogers was in a virtual tie in her third contested GOP primary in three election cycles in District 90, leading by three votes against political newcomer Kendon Underwood.
Della Rosa is a homemaker and a trained engineer who has made education a priority.
She is also the sponsor of the state law that will require electronic filing of election finance reports, making them easier to search.
Underwood is an attorney who contended Della Rosa was not as conservative as voters in the district, particularly in her support of the governor’s health care program.
The winner in that race will face Democrat Kati McFarland in November.
HOUSE DISTRICT 91
In Bentonville, incumbent Dan Douglas held a razor-thin, 12-vote lead in his bid for a fourth term against first-time candidate Scott Richardson in the District 91 race.
Douglas is a cattle farmer and commercial real estate manager. Richardson is technology director at CEI Engineering Associates.
Richard - son also challenged the incumbent on the grounds of being more conservative.
The winner of that race will face no Democratic opposition in the fall, the only legislative race in Benton County in which the Democrats did not field a candidate.
HOUSE DISTRICT 93
In another Bentonville race, incumbent Rep. Jim Dotson defeated Gan Nunnally in the District 93 House race by a wide margin.
Nunnally is general manager of a auto dealership in Bentonville.
Dotson is a real estate agent and former Bentonville City Council member.
Dotson faces Democrat Gayatri Jane Agnew of Bentonville in the general election.
REPLACING JAKE FILES
In Sebastian County, incumbent state Sen. Mathew Pitsch is in a runoff, trailing former state Rep. Frank Glidewell. Glidewell and former state Rep. Denney Altes ran against Pitsch in the GOP primary for the state Senate District 8 seat.
All three candidates are from Fort Smith.
Pitsch’s incumbent status is by appointment. He replaced former state Sen. Jake Files when Files resigned in February after pleading guilty to public corruption charges in federal court.
The runoff is set for June 19. The GOP nominee will face Libertarian candidate William Hyman of Fort Smith in November.
Pitsch, Altes and Glidewell all ran for the nomination for the four-year Senate term beginning in January. Another primary took place for the same district Tuesday to nominate a candidate to complete File’s term, which ends in January.
Pitsch cannot run for the partial term of office since he is a sitting member of the House. The Arkansas Constitution bars lawmakers from running for office while still serving a legislative term. Altes and Glidewell did run, though. Glidewell won and will face Hyman in the Aug. 14 special election. The winner will take office for five months. If Glidewell wins the special election, the runoff and the November election in succession, he will continue in office
Pitsch’s bid for the state Senate opened up his seat for Fort Smith’s House seat in District 76. Local attorney Kelly Proctor Pierce lost to Cindy Crawford, the chief executive of the women’s crisis center Hannah House in Fort Smith, in the GOP primary. Crawford faces no Democratic or other party opposition in the fall.
RUSSELLVILLE SPECIAL ELECTION
Two Russellville residents faced each other in the state Senate District 16 special election. Democrat Teresa Gallegos and Republican Breanne Davis ran to fill the unexpired term of the late Sen. Greg Standridge, who died Nov. 16 of cancer. The Senate district is comprised of Newton and Pope counties and parts of Boone, Carroll and Van Buren counties.
Davis won and will serve though the 2020 election.