AP: What to expect in Arkansas’ state house primary runoffs

WASHINGTON — Voters in three Arkansas state House districts will return to the polls Tuesday to complete some unfinished business from the March 5 primaries, including one race in which Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her father, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, are supporting different candidates.

The top two finishers from races in which no candidate received a majority of the vote in the primary will compete in runoff elections for a spot on the November ballot.

In southwestern Arkansas, Arnetta Bradford and Dolly Henley advanced to the runoff for the Republican nomination in District 88, where Republican state Rep. Danny Watson is not seeking another term.

Despite a huge fundraising disadvantage, Bradford led Henley in the March 5 primary, 47% to 45%, a vote margin of 63 votes. Bradford, a local coffee shop owner, has raised $9,200 for her campaign, the bulk of which came from two donations made in December totaling $6,600 from Sanders’ political action committee. It was the governor’s latest show of support for Bradford. A week after taking office in January 2023, Sanders appointed Bradford to the Black History Commission of Arkansas. She named Bradford’s shop “Arkansas Business of the Month” later that year and held an official government event there in January.

Henley, a longtime local government parks and recreation official and the wife of Washington Mayor Paul Henley, raised $77,650 for her campaign and had more than $34,000 in the bank about a week before the runoff.

Bradford’s campaign had $300 in the bank, according to state campaign finance records. Among Henley’s campaign donors is Huckabee, who gave $1,000 in January. Huckabee’s hometown of Hope is in the district.

In Democratic-leaning eastern Arkansas just west of Memphis, runoff candidates are vying for their party’s nod to replace two retiring Democratic members.

In District 35, Jessie Mcgruder and Raymond Whiteside are the finalists for the Democratic nomination to succeed state Rep. Milton

Nicks, who has held the seat since 2015. Mcgruder, a junior high school football coach, received the most votes in the primary, falling about 3 percentage points shy of the vote majority needed to avoid a runoff. Whiteside, a community development specialist for West Memphis and a former teacher and journalist, was second with about 24% of the primary vote.

In District 63, the race to replace outgoing Democratic state Rep. Deborah Ferguson pits Hughes Mayor Lincoln Barnett against insurance