Springdale Democrat to run in District 88

Woods to seek Republican Penzo’s seat

SPRINGDALE — Hawley Woods of Springdale announced she plans to run as a Democrat for the state House of Representatives District 88 seat held by Rep. Clint Penzo, R-Springdale.

“I know it will take a lot of hard work, but working hard is nothing new for me as a single, working parent putting herself through school,” Woods, 37, said Monday. She’s owner of Hound on the Hill, a pet-sitting service.

If elected, Woods’ focus would be to reform health care in Arkansas to make it “more affordable, accessible and less bureaucratically complicated,” according to a statement she released Monday.

“I’m lucky. I won my fight with cancer,” Woods said in the statement. “But I only won that fight and the fights that followed because I had support from friends, family and my community. I’m running because I want to fight for the people in our community who don’t have that kind of support network. Life-saving drugs cost too much, and the insurance system is impossible to navigate. I am prepared to fight for better options for the people of Arkansas.”

House District 88 takes up much of Springdale and eastern Tontitown. It reaches Har-Ber Avenue on the north, Arkansas 112 on the west, Johnson limits on the south and as far east as Hylton Road.

Candidate filing for partisan offices begins at noon Nov. 4 and ends at noon Nov. 12. Party primaries are March 3. The general election is Nov. 3, 2020.

State House members serve two-year terms and have an annual salary of $39,400.