WOMACK, WESTERMAN head for wins.

Republican on his way to fifth term in 3rd District

U.S. Reps. Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman were heading for re-election according to unofficial partial returns Tuesday night.

Womack, a Republican, was on his way to a fifth term representing the

3rd District in Congress, defeating Democrat

Josh Mahony of Fayetteville and Libertarian Michael Kalagias of Rogers.

The unofficial partial vote totals were:

Womack . . . . . . . . 136,223 (65%) Mahony . . . . . . . . 68,633 (33%) Kaliagas . . . . . . . . . . . 5,377 (2%)

In the 4th District, Westerman, a Republican, of Hot Springs was ahead of Democrat Hayden Shamel of Hot Springs and Libertarian Tom Canada of Scranton. Westerman was on his way to a third term on Capitol Hill.

The unofficial partial vote totals were:

Westerman . . . . . 114,443 (67%) Shamel. . . . . . . . . . . 53,907 (31%) Canada ............ 3,335(2%)

In the 1st District, U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, a Republican from Jonesboro, was leading Democrat Chintan

Desai of Helena-West Helena and Libertarian Elvis Presley of Star City. It would be Crawford’s fifth term.

The race in the 2nd District was very tight.

Rep. French

Hill, 61, a Republican and former Little

Rock banker, was barely leading Rep. Clarke Tucker, 37.

3RD DISTRICT

Womack, 61, is chairman of the House Budget Committee and a former Rogers mayor.

Womack said Tuesday evening he was “humbled” by the election results.

Northwest Arkansas voters are pleased with the country’s direction, Womack said.

“People are doing better, the economy’s doing well, there’s plenty of jobs, people are keeping more of their money, we’ve gotten after regulations, we’ve strengthened national security [and] we’ve got a couple of guys on the Supreme Court that put the Constitution in real good hands,” he added.

Of the state’s four districts, none have been more reliably Republican than the 3rd, which includes all of Benton, Washington, Boone, Carroll, Marion and Pope counties as well as portions of Crawford, Newton, Searcy, and Sebastian counties.

Democrats last won the

district in 1964.

Mahony, 38, who ran unsuccessfully for Washington County judge in 2016, was former president of the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund and former chairman of the Fayetteville airport board of directors. He also held positions with his family’s businesses, which have focused on natural resources, including timber, oil and gas.

Kaliagas, 49, is a volunteer firefighter who ran unsuccessfully in 2014 and 2016 for the state House of Representatives.

4TH DISTRICT

Westerman, 50, is an engineer and the only member of Congress with a graduate degree in forestry. He got his

undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He serves on the House Agriculture Committee. He is the former majority leader of the state House and a former member of the Fountain Lake School Board. The district covers parts of eastern Washington and Benton counties, all of southwestern Arkansas and Pine Bluff.

Westerman outpaced Shamel, 37, an English and Spanish teacher at Lakeside High School and the chairman of the Democratic Party of Garland County. This was her first run for elected office. The Libertarian Party candidate was Tom Canada.

1ST DISTRICT

In the 1st District, which

encompasses northeast Arkansas and a string of counties bordering the Mississippi River, Crawford was a long ways in front of Chintan Desai, a Democrat, and Elvis Presley, a Libertarian.

The former saddle bronc rider, rodeo announcer and agriculture news broadcaster is the first and only Republican since the 1870s to carry what was once the state’s most reliably Democratic seat.

A member of the House Agriculture Committee, Crawford, 52, represents the

top rice-growing district in the nation.

The former Army explosive ordnance disposal technician also serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Committee.

He was challenged by Desai, the son of immigrants and a former Teach for America corps member who remained in eastern Arkansas after completing his service.

2ND DISTRICT

More money was spent from inside and outside the state on the 2nd District

race than any of the other congressional races on the ballot this cycle in Arkansas.

Tucker, a two-term state representative and lawyer from Little Rock, challenged Hill primarily on the issue of health care.

Tucker’s decision to run came after he was diagnosed with and beat bladder cancer last year.

Libertarian Joe Ryne Swafford was the third candidate in the race.

The district is made up of Pulaski, Conway, Van Buren, White, Perry, Faulkner and Saline counties.

Womack

Westerman

Crawford

Hill