Ex-adjutant of Guard to run for state House seat

The former adjutant general of the Arkansas National Guard, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Berry, announced on Monday he will run for an open state House seat based in the River Valley.

Berry, a Republican, plans to run in House District 82, where state Rep. Sarah Capp, R-Ozark, has said she will not seek re-election to instead run for a local judgeship.

At the start of Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s first term in 2015, Berry was appointed to lead the state’s National Guard. At 64, he retired last month after serving more than 45 years in the military. He was succeeded by Maj. Gen. Kendall Penn.

Under Berry’s leadership, the Arkansas National Guard was deployed more than a dozen times, including on disaster-recovery missions to Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Berry heaped high praise upon the governor in an interview Monday, saying his political positions were “across the board in total agreement with the governor’s direction.”

“It gives me a great opportunity to continue working in this governor’s administration,” Berry said of the Legislature.

Berry said that included support for lower taxes — including the governor’s 2019 tax cut to high earners — and fiscal responsibility in state government. Berry also identified himself as a supporter of the state’s private-option Medicaid expansion program, which uses mostly federal funds to purchase health insurance for about 250,000 low-income Arkansans.

In the Legislature, Berry said he would attempt to carry over his work supporting the National Guard’s Youth Challenge Program, which works with high school dropouts to obtain a GED and enter the workforce. Berry said he would like to double the size of the program’s enrollment in Arkansas.

Berry said he also supports increased funding for law enforcement.

On the issue of gun control, Berry said he supports the 2nd Amendment rights of gun owners and that the idea of expanding background checks “deserves critical attention.” He did not say whether someone should be required to pass a background to purchase a gun at a gun show.

Berry lives in Ozark, according to his candidate release. He and his wife have two sons.

A Democrat in the district, Sharon Mobarak, said Monday she is also considering a run and plans to make up her mind in the next several weeks. Mobarak, 66, said she lives in Ozark and is a disabled veteran of the U.S. Army who worked at the post office for 17 years.