Finance reports in judicial races filed with state
Webb outspends, outraises two rivals, disclosures show
In her campaign for chief justice, Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Barbara Webb reported raising more and spending more in January than at least two of her opponents based on their latest campaign finance reports.
Campaign finance reports of Arkansas state candidates for January were due Tuesday in the secretary of state’s office.
Along with Webb, state Supreme Court Justices Rhonda Wood and Karen Baker and attorney Jay Martin are vying for chief justice position in the March 5, nonpartisan judicial election, which is held in conjunction with the primary election.
Early voting started Tuesday. If none of the chief justice candidates get a majority of the votes, the two top vote-getters will advance to the runoff, which will be Nov. 5, in conjunction with the general election.
Webb reported raising $37,825 in contributions and spending $10,221.41 in January.
She is the recipient of $3,300 contributions in January from Tim Sopel of Benton, W. Ross Little of Springdale and George Gleason of Little Rock, according to her report. The maximum contribution to candidates for state office is $3,300 per election under state law.
Webb’s fundraising and spending in January increased her total campaign contributions to $150,675 and her total expenses to $44,787.35 through the end of January, according to the secretary of state’s website.
After factoring in a $50,000 loan to her campaign, her campaign treasury totaled $155,887.65 as of Jan. 31, the website shows. She has been on the state Supreme Court since 2021. She is wife of Arkansas Public Service Commission Chairman Doyle Webb, who is a former state Republican Party chairman, state senator and chief of staff to the late
Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller.
Wood reported raising $10,711.67 in contributions and spending $9,415.74 in January.
She is the recipient of $3,300 contributions each in January from Michelle Parsley of Conway and Bill Parsley of Conway, according to her report.
Wood’s fundraising and spending in January increased her total contributions raised to $74,290.87 and total spending to $44,425.68 through the end of January, she reported. After factoring in a $100,000 loan to her campaign, she reported a campaign treasury of $129,865.19 as of Jan. 31.
She has been on the state Supreme Court since 2015 and was on the state Court of Appeals from 2013-2014.
Martin reported raising $8,200 in contributions and spending $6,405.68 in January. That increased his total amount raised in contributions to $25,600 and his total expenses to $24,468.47, through the end of January, according to the secretary of state’s website. After factoring in a loan of $12,300, that left a campaign treasury of $13,431.53 as of Jan. 31, the website shows.
He served as a Democrat in the state House of Representatives from 2003-2007.
A January campaign finance report for Baker was not posted on the secretary of state’s website as of late Wednesday afternoon. Through the end of December, she reported loaning her campaign $13,200 and the payment of a $13,200 filing fee. She has been on the state Supreme Court since 2011 and was on the state Court of Appeals from 2001-2010.
Baker, Martin, Webb and Wood are running to succeed Chief Justice Dan Kemp, starting in 2025. Kemp, who has served as the chief justice since 2017, has said he intends to retire at the end of his term in December, noting that since he has passed age 70 he would have to relinquish his retirement benefits under state law if he were reelected.
If Baker, Webb or Wood are elected as chief justice, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders would fill the vacancy on the state’s high court.
SUPREME COURT POSITION 2
In the race for Position 2 on the Arkansas Supreme Court, Justice Courtney Hudson reported raising $52,350 in contributions and spending $25,917.52 in January.
She is the recipient of $3,300 contributions in January from Ron Hope of Little Rock; James Davis of Sherwood; Kathrine Murphy of Bentonville; Taylor Hudson of Carmel, Calif.; Fred Sands of Brinkley; the Arkansans for Arkansas PAC; the Arkansas Forward PAC; and the Spirit of Arkansas PAC, according to her report.
Hudson’s January campaign fundraising and spending increased her total contributions received to $166,445 and her total expenses to $53,795.17 through Jan. 31, leaving a campaign treasury of $112,649.83 on Jan. 31, she reported. She has served on the state Supreme Court since 2011 and on the Court of Appeals from 2009-2011.
The other candidate for Position 2 on the Supreme Court is Circuit Judge Carlton Jones of Texarkana.
A January campaign finance report for Jones was not posted on the secretary of state’s website as of late Wednesday afternoon. Through the end of December, he reported raising $12,860.82 in contributions and spending $5,727.96, leaving a campaign treasury of $7,232.86 on Dec. 31.
Hudson and Jones seek to serve the rest of the term to which the late Supreme Court Justice Robin Wynne was elected in 2022. Wynne died in late June. On July 3, Sanders announced her appointment of former U.S. Attorney and Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Cody Hiland to the state Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by Wynne’s death until 2025.
Hudson is serving her second term on the court in Position 3. She has said seeking the Position 2 seat would allow her to serve a few more years on the court before reaching mandatory judicial retirement.
If Hudson is elected to Position 2 on the Supreme Court, Sanders will fill the vacancy in Position 3.
Justice Shawn Womack is running unopposed for Position 5 on the state Supreme Court. He has served on the court since 2017.
The seven justices on the state Supreme Court are elected in statewide, nonpartisan elections and serve on the bench for eight-year terms. The salary for the chief justice is $219,902 a year, and the salaries for the associate justices are $203,625 a year.
COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT 6, POSITION 1
In the race for Court of Appeals District 6, Position 1, attorney Molly McNulty of Little Rock reported raising and spending the most money in January among the three candidates.
She reported raising $27,295 in contributions and spending $53,934.60 in January.
That increased the amount she has raised in contributions to $147,835.69 and total spending to $118,476.34 through the end of January. After factoring in a $25,000 loan to her campaign, she reported a campaign treasury of $54,359.35 on Jan. 31.
Attorney Pam Hathaway of Little Rock reported raising $4,050 and spending $22,300 in January.
In total, she reported receiving campaign contributions of $78,460 and spending $63,144.24 through the end of January. After factoring in loaning her campaign $100,000, that left a campaign treasury of $115,315.76 on Jan. 31., she reported.
The other candidate for the post, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Casey Tucker of Little Rock, reported raising and spending no funds in January.
In total, Tucker reported loaning her campaign $10,500, raising no campaign contributions and spending $10,455.80 through the end of January, leaving $44.20 in her campaign treasury Jan. 31.
McNulty, Hathaway and Tucker seek the Court of Appeals District 6, Position 1 post held by Judge Rita Gruber, who is retiring. If none of the candidates gets a majority of the votes in the March 5 nonpartisan judicial election, the two top vote-getters will advance to the Nov. 5 judicial runoff.
Court of Appeals Judge Waymond Brown is unopposed for the court’s District 7 position. Brown has been on the court since 2009.
The court is composed of 12 judges who are elected in nonpartisan elections from seven appellate districts to serve eight-year terms. The salary for Court of Appeals judges is $197,596 a year, and the salary for the court’s chief judge is $200,610 a year.
STATE TREASURER
Secretary of State John Thurston of East End, a Republican, reported raising $3,300 in contributions for his campaign for state treasurer and spending $591.75 in January.
He reported raising a total of $4,400 and spending a total of $11,853.04 for the primary election through Jan. 31. He reported a campaign treasury of $10,072 as of Jan. 31.
On Aug. 11, Thurston reported transferring $17,524.04 from his secretary of state carryover fund to his state treasurer primary campaign in 2024. He has served as the secretary of state since 2019 and was the state’s land commissioner from 2011-2019.
In August, Sanders announced the appointment of then-state Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Larry Walther as state treasurer. Walther is serving as state treasurer until January. A state treasurer will be elected in this year’s general election to serve the final two years of the late Mark Lowery’s four-year term to which he was elected in November 2022.
Democratic state treasurer candidate John Pagan of Little Rock, who served as a state senator from 19911993, reported raising $750 in campaign contributions and spending $399.84 in January.
That increased the total amount of campaign contributions he has raised to $2,950 and total expenses to $1,860.84. After factoring in a $26,250 loan to his campaign, he reported $27,339.16 in his campaign treasury Jan. 31.
Candidates for state offices are required to file campaign finance reports if their total contributions raised or expenditures exceeded $500, but their payment of filing fees out of their own funds doesn’t count toward that threshold.