Boozman running for third term

Arkansas’ senior U.S. senator, John Boozman, announced Saturday that he will run for reelection for a third term in 2022.

The Republican from Rogers said in a news release that he “will remain a tireless champion for Arkansas, our values and our freedoms,” and touted his background as an optometrist,

a fifth-generation Arkansan and the son of an Air Force veteran.

He promised “strong, conservative leadership.”

“I will continue fighting for Arkansas’ working families and small businesses; and my efforts to support our farmers, ranchers and rural communities will take a backseat to no one,” Boozman said.

He served five terms in the House of Representatives for the 3rd Congressional District from 2001-11, before he was elected to the Senate, first in 2010 and again in 2016. He now has the most seniority of Arkansas’ congressional delegation.

Boozman serves on five Senate committees, including the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, on which he is the ranking Republican; and the Committee on Veterans Affairs, on which he has advocated for legislation supporting veterans and their families.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin received former President Donald Trump’s endorsement Friday night in the race for the Republican nomination for Arkansas attorney general.

Griffin initially planned to run for governor but switched his candidacy to attorney general in February after Sarah Huckabee Sanders — a former White House press secretary under Trump and the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee — announced her

“I will continue fighting for Arkansas’ working families and small businesses; and my efforts to support our farmers, ranchers and rural communities will take a backseat to no one.”

— U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Rogers

bid for the Republican nomination for governor.

Leon Jones Jr., the former executive director of the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission, is currently the only other Republican candidate for attorney general in the 2022 race.

Cody Hiland, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, said in February that he is considering running. He could not be reached for comment Saturday. Trump appointed Hiland to the U.S. attorney’s office in June 2017, and Hiland held the position from October 2017 until his resignation on Dec. 31, 2020.

Trump has expressed support for Sanders in the gubernatorial election over current Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who actively campaigned for Trump during his reelection bid in 2020.

Boozman