Fite Announces Reelection Bid

Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren, is running for a sixth term in the state House, she announced Nov. 3.

Fite serves as chairwoman of the House Committee on Aging, Ch i ld ren and Youth, Military and Legislative Affairs. She also serves on the Education Committee, the Energy Committee, and is a member of Legislative Council, a body of lawmakers that oversees state government between legislative sessions.

No female member of the House ranks higher in seniority than Fite, House records show. Length of time serving in the House grants seniority, with senior members getting first pick of their committee assignments.

Fite serves House District 80, which stretches as far north as Tontitown in western Washington County. Proposed new legislative district boundaries would put most of her Washington County constituency into a new House district. Proposed House District 24, which Fite is running for, is in western and southern Crawford County with a smaller portion of Washington County.

Fite’s legislative priorities include improving the foster care system, helping survivors of domestic violence, increasing public safety, making life better for people with disabilities and making the state more friendly for members of the U.S. armed forces, she said in a statement. She is a former court appointed special advocate, representing the interest of children in court cases.

She has received honors from the DOD, National Guard, Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Arkansas School for the Deaf, Arkansas Association of the Deaf, Family Council, and Federation of Women Legislators, and many others, according to her announcement.

She is a retired educator and school psychology specialist who served for eight years as a missionary in Taiwan. She lives with her husband, Tom, in Van Buren. They have six children and seven grandchildren.

House members run for two-year terms. Their base salary is $39,399 a year, not including per diem and expenses.

Fite