LITTLE ROCK — Polls opened across Arkansas at 7:30 a.m., kicking off a runoff election that will determine the Democratic nominee for Senate and Congressional nominees in three districts.
Voters are deciding between incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in the Democratic Senate race as well as the Democratic nominees for Congress in the First and Second Districts and the Republican nominee in the Third District.
Statewide races for the Democratic nominee for land commissioner and secretary of state are also among the runoff races on the ballot.
Early voting and absentee ballot numbers totaled 67,981 through Monday.
At Central Baptist Church in North Little Rock, more than 40 people filled out ballots in the first hour the polls were open Tuesday.
Among them was Grady Harvell, president of Afco Steel, who said he voted for Lincoln because she opposed the Employee Free Choice Act.
"I think Halter represents the union and the union vote," Harvell said shortly after voting. "I supported Blanche because of that. That's one of the biggest issues for me as a businessperson."
Halter and his wife, Shanti Halter, filled out ballots at Central Baptist shortly before 9 a.m.
Speaking afterward, Halter said he expects a tight race. Asked about Democrats coming together behind whoever wins after a contentious primary, Halter referenced the party's "rich history" of doing so but then said he was keeping his focus on winning.
"The only thing I'm focused on for the next 10-and-a-half hours is just getting folks to the polls and getting votes out," Halter said. "We're not even entertaining the possibility of not winning."
Lincoln and her husband, Steve Lincoln, voted Tuesday afternoon at St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock after greeting about two-dozen supporters outside.
Lincoln said she was confident a series of campaign stops across the state in the days leading up to the election would result in high turnout and a victory.
"I think the people of Arkansas have been able to see beyond a lot of the special interest groups and part the special interest money that has come into the state," she said. "We know this is our opportunity to stand up and be heard as Arkansans."
Also voting at Central Baptist was Lonnie Gibbons, a retired North Little Rock resident who said he isn't pleased with the direction the country is moving in.
"There are pretty contested races, obviously, and I just wanted to have a say in how they came out," he said. "There's too much spending, if you will, too much change in the wrong direction. I just think we should all get out and voice an opinion, whether we agree with that or not. We should be out here voting and making a choice."
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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