Hundreds of candidates for state, federal and non-partisan judicial offices are expected to make their candidacies official at the state Capitol.
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Secretary of State Mark Martin said the interest from the White House hopefuls shows the earlier primary, enacted by the Legislature earlier this year, is already a success.
Mike Huckabee was back to his old stomping grounds as the former Arkansas governor was joined Monday by his wife, Janet, to file for the state’s Republican presidential primary.
One of the Democrats hoping to oust a sitting Republican is Conner Eldridge, who on Monday officially began an uphill challenge to US Senator John Boozeman. Christie campaigned on behalf of GOP candidates in Arkansas a year ago but hasn’t appeared in the state since beginning his White House bid.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in May signed into law legislation moving the state’s primary next year from May to March, part of an effort to create a regional nominating contest supporters have dubbed the “SEC primary”, after the Southeastern Conference. The contest so far has drawn several GOP hopefuls to the state besides Huckabee – retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Texas Sen.
She said the Cruz campaign has operations in more than half of Arkansas’ 75 counties, “and we are building them out”.
Webb said the party’s goal next year is to maintain its majority in the Legislature, which it’s held since 2012. Republicans hold 64 of the seats in the 100-member House and 24 in the 35-member Senate.
The head of the state’s Republican party is hoping to keep the momentum going.
“One thing I’ve learned about politics, and I learned it here in Arkansas: You never take anything for granted, ever”, he said.
“Today they have to run in an environment of (issues like) national healthcare, of whether we’re going to build a wall in Mexico and have the Mexicans pay for it. It’s a completely different environment, and running for a local office has been nationalized”, Insalaco said. “I think were going to hold on to what we have, and we’re going to pick up a few seats”.
Former federal prosecutor Bud Cummins filed paperwork on behalf of Christie.
Governor Huckabee will addressed the Republican Party of Arkansas at its headquarters in Little Rock on Monday evening. Neither faces announced opposition yet in their bids for the state’s highest court. The two served together as United States attorneys.
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Justice Courtney Goodson, who’s running for chief justice of the state Supreme Court, and Circuit Judge Shawn Womack, who is running for a Supreme Court seat, also made their candidacies official Monday.
