State Sen. Joyce Elliott defeated State Rep. Robbie Wills to win the Democratic nomination in the 2nd Congressional District race.
Wills jumped out ahead early, but by 9:30, Elliott had passed him with 28 percent of counties reporting.
The Secretary of State's office showed in early returns that Elliott had 33,020 votes (57.5 percent) to Wills' 24,421 (42.5 percent).
Elliott won two-thirds of the vote in Pulaski County and Wills won 64 percent of the vote in seven surrounding counties.
At Cajun's Wharf, Elliott's watch party was buzzing as results trickled in. A big smile washed over Elliott's face as she saw her lead.
The race on the Democratic side for U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder's seat has gotten increasingly rancorous leading up to today's runoff vote, with mailers from Wills' camp painting Elliott as extreme in her views. Elliott returned fire, calling Wills "desperate" in his attempt to "distort" her record.
Elliott faces Republican nominee Tim Griffin in November.
“That’s a whole different kind of election and a whole different kind of strategy,” Elliott said. “We’ll be working on tightening up our campaign in all eight counties, seeking more hard work and more volunteers.”
Elliott, 59, has served in the state Senate since 2009 and is the chamber’s Democratic majority leader. She was elected to the state House in 2000 and she served three two-year terms. She is a former high school teacher and worked for the College Board as its director of government relations for the southwest region.
Wills congratulated Elliott on the win and said he’d support her in November.
“We did everything that we know how to do to be competitive,” Wills said. “We started off way behind. I had virtually no name recognition in Pulaski County. To even make a runoff with someone as well known as Senator Elliott was an accomplishment.”
Griffin, too, congratulated Elliott.
“Voters in the Second District deserve a serious debate on how we can create jobs, improve our economy and reduce the national debt,” he said in a statement.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.