Democrats get runoff for House

— Kim Felker, a retired Crawfordsville teacher, will face Hudson Hallum, a Marion firefighter and paramedic in a May 10 special primary runoff to determine the Democratic candidate for the state House of Representatives District 54 seat.

Felker, 53, came in first in the four-way race. Hallum, 27, was 105 votes behind Felker, earning second place for the Democratic nomination during a special primary election Tuesday.

John Geelan, 63, a Marion store owner, defeated Velmar Bailey, 68, an Earle pastor, for the Republican nomination.

Complete but unofficial results in the Democratic primary are: Kim Felker . . . . . . . . . . . . . .563 Hudson Hallum . . . . . . . . .458 Lorraine Robinson. . . . . . . 355 Willie Gammon . . . . . . . . . 153

Complete but unofficial results in the Republican primary are: Velmar Bailey . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 John Geelan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

The District 54 seat serves most of Crittenden County.

The position opened when now-former-Rep. Fred Smith, D-Crawfordsville, resigned Jan. 26 after he was convicted of felony theft in Chicot County Circuit Court. Authorities said he stole $29,250 from the Dermott School District.

Chicot County Circuit Court Judge Sam Pope ordered Smith to pay restitution of $29,250 back to the school district, suspended a 12-month prison sentence and placed him on probation Feb. 14.

Smith, a former Harlem Globetrotter who holds the world record for once dunking a basketball in a rim 11-feet, 10-inches high, said upon his conviction that he would appeal the sentence.

A Chicot County Circuit Court deputy said Tuesday that Smith had yet to file an appeal.

After election results rolled in Tuesday, Hallum was already planning his runoff campaign.

“I’m going to hit the ground running,” Hallum said Tuesday evening. “Now the hard work begins.

“We’ll continue doing what we’ve been doing,” he said. “It’s worked well. I want to push harder and pick up those extra votes.”

Felker did not return a telephone message late Tuesday evening.

The winner of the Democratic runoff between Felker and Hallum, along with Geelan, will face independent candidate D’James “Two” Rogers of West Memphis in the special general election July 12.

Currently, 54 Democrats and 45 Republicans make up the state House of Representatives, according to the Arkansas secretary of state’s office.

Last month, Republican Bruce Cozart, a Hot Springs construction company owner, defeated Democrat Jerry Rephan, a Hot Springs lawyer, in a March 8 special election for the District 24 seat that’s made up of portions of Garland and Hot Springs counties. The winner of the seat in the Nov. 2 general election was Republican Keith Crass, who had died six days earlier.

Crittenden County Election Commission Chairman Eric Darden said there were no problems in tallying the votes Tuesday but said voter turnout was not as much as hoped. About 1,600 people voted in Tuesday’s election. There are 14,000 registered voters in the district.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/13/2011

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