Stronger Arkansas donors disclosed

$250,000 given by poultry executive

Arkansas poultry executive Ronnie Cameron donated $250,000 to a group aiming to defeat proposed constitutional amendments on abortion access, medical marijuana and education.

The group, Stronger Arkansas, is a ballot question committee led by Chris Caldwell, a senior adviser to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ 2026 campaign.

Cameron is chairman of Mountaire Corporation and a longtime GOP donor. His donation to Stronger Arkansas was part of the required March disclosures for ballot question committees filed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission on April 15, with the $250,000 contribution accounting for the entirety of the group’s fundraising efforts after it was formed in March.

Ballot questions committees are required to file financial disclosure statements with the Arkansas Ethics Commission every month.

Stronger Arkansas was one of several ballot question committees that has formed in recent weeks to oppose the proposed constitutional amendment on abortion, which if approved would prohibit the state from restricting abortions before 18 weeks after fertilization or in cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomaly or to protect the mother’s life or protect the mother from physical harm.

Arkansas law bans abortion, except in cases to save the life of the mother during a medical emergency.

So far, anti-abortion committees have far outraised the group behind the amendment, Arkansans for Limited

Government, which has raised a total of $28,860 according to a notarized financial disclosure form it provided to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Currently, Arkansans for Limited Government is working on gathering the 90,704 signatures it needs to get its proposed amendment on the November ballot. The group has until July 5 to turn in its signatures to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office.

While anti-abortion groups have raised significantly more money than Arkansans for Limited Government, Jerry Cox, head of the Family Council Action Committee, a conservative group opposed to the abortion amendment, said the campaign for the amendment should be taken seriously.

“When you have volunteers, you don’t need a lot of money,” Cox said. “Really all you need is enough money to print lots of pages of petitions.”

“I believe they can get their signatures without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Cox said. “I believe they can do it by spending tens of thousands.”

The Family Council Action Committee 2024 has raised $20,577 to defeat the abortion amendment. Other committees opposed to the abortion amendment include NWA for Life, which has raised $9,500; the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, which has raised $1,428 and Arkansas Right To Life Inc., which has raised $5,658.

Choose Life Arkansas, which Cox is also the director of, has raised $46,100 according to its latest financial disclosure. Like Stronger Arkansas, both groups are also campaigning against the proposed education and medical marijuana amendments.

Cox said the Family Council Action Committee will spend equal amounts to defeat the abortion and medical marijuana amendments with the rest being spent on opposing the education amendment.

The medical marijuana amendment calls for expanding access to the drug by allowing nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants and pharmacists — in addition to doctors — to sign off on medical cards, allow patients to grow cannabis at home, and end annual renewal requirements for medical certification. If the federal prohibition against marijuana ends, the amendment also would legalize the drug recreationally, permitting adults to own up to one ounce of cannabis. Licensed cultivators and dispensaries would be able to legally sell marijuana for adult use.

Arkansans for Patient Access, the committee behind the amendment, has raised $738,448. In March, the group raised $565,506, entirely from Arkansas medical marijuana businesses.

The education amendment, if passed, would require private schools that accept state funds to follow the same regulations as public schools. The amendment also would require the state to provide universal access to pre-kindergarten education; create a new set of minimum standards for public schools; universal access to after-school, summertime and special education programs; and wrap-around services for students within 200% of the federal poverty line.

For AR Kids, the group behind the amendment, has raised $2,192.

“Right now we’re almost solely focused on the volunteer effort to get signatures,” said Bill Kopsky, treasurer of For AR Kids. “That’s the first battle.”

Here is what other Ballot Questions Committees have raised so far:

■ The Arkansas Period Poverty Project, which has proposed an initiated act to exempt feminine hygiene products and diapers from Arkansas’ sales and use tax, has raised $2,711.

■ Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, which is behind an amendment and initiated act to protect the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, has raised $85,800.

■ Local Voters in Charge, which is behind an effort to repeal the Arkansas Racing Commission’s authority to issue a casino licence in Pope County, has raised $650,100, almost entirely from Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.