Local Pastor Challenges For District Seat

FARMINGTON — There are few differences in the rhetoric between a political newcomer and the veteran state House member from District 85, an east/west district in Washington County that stretches across parts of Fayetteville, Farmington and into Prairie Grove.

A local Farmington pastor, Dwight Gonzales, making his first run for political office, wants to help those who need help and create jobs.

He is facing state Rep. David Whitaker of Fayetteville who says there is much to finish in helping those who need help finding good jobs, good schools and a good economy here in Northwest Arkansas.

Gonzales is on the GOP ticket, but at campaign events he is slow to endorse the presidential nominee Donald J. Trump or enthusiastically back the Republican Party’s platforms. “I don’t like to declare I am for somebody,” Gonzales said at a chamber interview/ forum recently. “…but I will vote for Donald Trump. I’m with the Republican Party and he was not the one I favored…”

Whitaker, a Democrat, enthusiastically supports Hillary Clinton for president and says he is proud of the Democratic Party in Arkansas.

Both Whitaker and Gonzales told the public they had not signed a no-tax pledge for this election cycle.

Both men said looking at state budgets and the need for funding, they might have to cut funds in one area of state government, only to raise needed capital in another area of the budget.

Neither candidate was enthusiastic about the two competing Medical Marijuana questions on the Nov. 8 ballot. Gonzales said he opposes both, while Whitaker says that the medical community, meaning a physician approved certificate, needs to meet the criteria for medical marijuana usage.

Gonzales and his wife, Amanda, have four children of their own and have recently adopted three more children. He says he has a heart for the foster care program. He and his wife proudly proclaim they have fostered some 49 children over the course of their 13-year marriage.

He also touts struggles in growing up in a single parent home in Oklahoma and his personal health as a 10-year survivor of testicular cancer make him a strong candi-

date for the state House.

“I promise you, that regardless if I am elected or not, I will always fight for the children of Arkansas,” Gonzales said.

He says by being small- business friendly, when Arkansas businesses succeed, Arkansas families can succeed as well.

Whitaker is serving his second term in the Arkansas House of Representatives. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Whitaker is the former assistant city attorney for the city of Fayetteville and a former instructor at NorthWest Arkansas Community College.

Whitaker had a 100 percent success rate in the 2013 session, passing all eight bills he introduced. He has sponsored legislation that strengthened laws against drunk driving and cracked down on predatory towing. Working with Fayetteville and Farmington city leaders, he has advised economic developers on how to invest thousands of general improvement dollars into this region of the state.

Since being elected, Whitaker has helped city and nonprofit leaders make improvements to the Farmington Fire Department, Farmington Library, Farmington Senior Center, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Public Schools, the Yvonne Richardson Community Center and the Fayetteville National Cemetery, among many organizations.

Both men cite friendships in the Legislature as being a key for them to continue the work of the Legislature for District 85. Whitaker has been a Democratic Party Whip and worked on several statewide initiatives by a coalition of both parties. Gonzales touts several local friends in the Republican Party that will help connect him down in Little Rock if elected.

If elected, Gonzales said he will continue to pastor his local church, in addition to serving as a state representative.

Whitaker, who is an adjunct professor of law at a local community college, will teach when the Legislature is not in session, he said.

Whitaker

Gonzales