2 more file for president; 2 appellate posts contested

Contested races for the state’s appellate court took shape and the presidential primary field thickened during the third day of election filing at the Capitol on Wednesday.

Two days after a surrogate filed on behalf of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for the state’s Democratic presidential primary, representatives for former Arkansas first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley filed paperwork for that race with the secretary of state’s office.

U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock, was in Washington, D.C., but made an appearance via video phone while his campaign chairman filed his paperwork for re-election. A Libertarian challenger for the state’s 2nd Congressional District also filed.

While many nonpartisan judicial elections remain uncontested, rivals emerged for two of the open seats on the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

Wednesday morning, 20th Judicial Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland of Conway announced in the Old Supreme Court chamber that he would seek the second position of the court’s 2nd District, which covers north-central Arkansas.

Hiland said he wanted to safeguard the “separation of powers” between lawmakers and the bench and that he didn’t want the state’s judges to stray from strict reading of the law and the constitution.

Despite having no experience as a judge, Hiland thinks his five years as a prosecutor would lend insight to the bench, which handles many of the state’s criminal appeals.

“I think the court needs a law enforcement perspective,” Hiland said. “It needs someone who comes at it from a practical application and not just a theoretical perspective.”

Hiland’s opponent, Circuit Judge Mike Murphy of Conway, filed for office in September after nearly a year as a judge.

Murphy, who was a city attorney in Conway for 23 years, was appointed to finish the term of former Circuit Judge Mike Maggio last September. Murphy went on to win an election for another judicial position later in the fall.

In January, Maggio pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge. Murphy, who described himself as a “student of the law,” said that taking over for Maggio meant that he had to help restore public confidence in the courts. He wanted to continue that mission at the Court of Appeals.

“Voters I talked to, [the Maggio case] sort of shook them up and it bothers people. That’s another reason I want to get in [to the Appeals Court race],” Murphy said. “I think we need to have judges and judicial candidates that the public has confidence in.”

A state agency division head and a longtime public defender each filed for the 5th District position on the Court of Appeals that is now held by Mike Kinard. Kinard, an appointee of former Gov. Mike Beebe, is ineligible to run for that position.

Job Serebrov, the head of quality assurance at the state’s Department of Human Services, did not return a call for comment. But according to the attorney’s professional social media, Serebrov has worked for multiple state and federal agencies and once clerked for a federal judge in Arkansas.

He will go up against Mark Klappenbach, who has more than 30 years of law experience in the state, most of which was spent with the Arkansas Public Defender Commission.

Klappenbach, who is also finishing his term as the pres-

ident of the Fordyce School Board, said he sees his lack of experience as a full-time judge as a strength. The fourth-generation Arkansan said that he has been appointed numerous times as a special justice on cases before the state Supreme Court.

“I think a lot of us practicing attorneys would think that’s a plus for the Court of Appeals,” Klappenbach said. “We’ve been in the trenches more recently. We know what it’s like to practice down in the trenches. … I’m going to be mindful of the law and what it’s like to practice law in the real world and not just the theoretical world.”

Court of Appeals judges

Waymond Brown and Rita Gruber also filed for re-election. No opponents have filed in their races.

The two Democratic presidential candidates who filed Wednesday joined the eight Republican primary contenders who filed on Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of the filing period.

A spokesman for Clinton, who also served as New York’s U.S. senator, said the wife of former Arkansas governor and U.S. president Bill Clinton is “taking nothing for granted” in Arkansas.

“We’re confident her policy agenda of fighting to raise Arkansans’ incomes, creating more good-paying jobs, reforming our criminal justice system, and making college more affordable will help Arkansans get ahead and stay ahead,” spokesman Tyrone Gayle said in a written statement.

Hill’s campaign chairman, Judith Goodson of Little

Rock, filed papers for Hill for run for his second twoyear term in the U.S. House of Representatives with several supporters and family friends on hand, including Hill’s son, Payne, and Hill’s father, Jay.

“Unfortunately, work here in Washington is prohibiting me from being in Little Rock during the filing period, so while that is frustrating, I thought it would be fun to have my family and friends and supporters help out and also put it on FaceTime,” he told reporters.

He is being challenged by Chris Hayes, a Libertarian from Mabelvale, who ran for state treasurer in 2014.

In all, at least 18 people filed for office with Secretary of State Mark Martin on Wednesday, down from the 31 filings on Tuesday. On Monday, the first day of filing, 139 candidates filed with Martin’s office. Filing ends Monday.