A Pulaski County judge will hold a hearing next week over the Arkansas Democratic Party’s effort to block former lawmaker and Harlem Globetrotter Fred Smith from the primary ballot.
Judge Mary McGowan’s office said Tuesday that a hearing will be held April 5 in the lawsuit challenging Smith’s candidacy. The party claims that a felony theft conviction prevents the lawmaker from seeking the Democratic nomination to run again for his old House seat.
Smith resigned from the Legislature last year after being found guilty of theft of property delivered by mistake. A Chicot County judge on March 15 dismissed the felony theft case, but Democrats say they still believe Smith wasn’t eligible to file to run because of the conviction.