LITTLE ROCK — State Sen. Joyce Elliott on Tuesday handily turned back a challenge from state Rep. Fred Allen in the Democratic primary in Senate District 31.
With all precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Elliott.............................3,961 Allen ............................. 2,362
Elliott said she believes that she won the primary race because the people in Senate District 31 know her and “we share the same values.” She said she was aided by the “visceral reaction” of the district’s voters to the efforts and money put into the race by people who live outside the district to try to choose the district’s senator.
Allen late Tuesday night blamed his loss on Elliott’s campaign distributing fliers and airing radio commercials that he said amounted to “pure character assassination” when he didn’t have time to respond to Elliott’s charges. Elliott has defended her assertions about Allen as accurate.
Elliott will now vie with Libertarian candidate Glen Schwarz of Little Rock for the Senate seat in the Nov. 6 general election.
Elliott, who lost her bid for the 2nd Congressional District seat to Republican Tim Griffin in 2010, has served in the Senate since 2009 and was in the House from 2001-2007.
Allen has been in the state House of Representatives since 2007 and owns a construction company.
He maintained in his campaign that the state’s tort laws need “to be revisited because ... it would make it easier for industry to come to the state of Arkansas.” But Elliott contended that she’s not as convinced as others that the state’s tort laws are holding the state back.
More than three weeks ago, Elliott resigned as the $80,000-a-year executive director of the Central Little Rock Promise Neighborhood, a job that she held since Sept. 1, after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette questioned whether the job comported with state law. University of Arkansas at Little Rock Chancellor Joel Anderson has maintained that UALR “was unaware” that Elliott’s hiring by the eight-member Promise Neighborhood consortium conflicted with state law as UALR was the fiscal agent for a federal grant for the project.
Elliott, a former teacher, accused Allen of choosing not to “stand with” President Barack Obama in the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the constitutionality of the federal healthcare overhaul, of not fighting “the takeover of public education by big business,” and of not fighting “against big business taking over our neighborhoods south of Interstate 630, including taking residents’ property for the technology park.”
Allen called Elliott’s assertions unfounded and inaccurate.
Elliott was aided by a substantial financial advantage in the race. She reported raising $148,267 and spending $139,570 through May 12, while Allen reported raising $85,013 and spending $51,709.
The Allen-Elliott race was one of a handful of contentious state Senate races in Tuesday’s primary.
Another heated race was the state Senate Democratic primary in District 25 pitting state Sen. Stephanie Flowers of Pine Bluff against state Rep. Efrem Elliott of Altheimer.
With 190 of 201 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4,272 Elliott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,061
The winner will take on Libertarian candidate David Dinwiddie of Pine Bluff in the general election.
Rep. Keith Ingram of West Memphis defeated state Sen. Jack Crumbly of Widener in the Democratic primary in Senate District 24.
The primary came after a federal trial on a lawsuit about whether the district’s boundaries, drawn by the state Board of Apportionment last year, dilute black voting strength and violate the federal Voting Rights Act.
Crumbly is black. Ingram is white.
With all 55 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Ingram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,007 Crumbly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,977
The winner will be unopposed in the general election.
In Senate District 11, Democratic state Sen. Steve Harrelson held off a primary challenge from state Rep. Larry Cowling of Foreman. Cowling is a brother of former Rep. Ken Cowling of Texarkana, whom Harrelson defeated two years ago.
The winner will take on Texarkana Republican and businessman Jimmy Hickey in the November general election.
With all 83 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Harrelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,610 Cowling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,996
Senate District 11 is one of the districts that Republicans are eyeing as a possible pickup as they seek majority-party control in the state Senate, which is made up of 20 Democrats and 15 Republicans. A majority is 18 votes.
State Sen. Jon Woods of Springdale won the most contentious Senate primary race as he defeated state Sen. Bill Pritchard in the Republican primary in Senate District 7.
Woods, who has pledged not to vote to raise taxes, contended that Pritchard “is out of touch with the conservative values of the district.” Pritchard countered that he’s a “pro-business job creator” and Woods is the candidate “of the trial lawyers and unions that want to repeal tort reform.”
Woods will take on Springdale Democrat Diana Gonzales Worthen in the general election.
With all 49 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,784 Pritchard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,614
In the Senate District 1 GOP primary, Bart Hester of Cave Springs, who has pledged not to vote to raise taxes, knocked off state Rep. Tim Summers of Bentonville. Summers drew criticism from the conservative group Americans for Prosperity in a campaign mailer for his votes to refer to voters proposed sales-tax and diesel-tax increases to improve highways.
With 27 of 27 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Hester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,506 Summers . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,869
The winner will be unopposed in the general election.
In the Senate District 9 Republican primary, state Sen. Bruce Holland of Greenwood and the Americans for Prosperity group questioned the conservative credentials of former Rep. Rick Green of Van Buren as Green criticized Holland for fleeing from a Perry County sheriff’s deputy last year.
With 60 of 85 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Holland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,118 Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,903
The winner will vie with state Rep. Tracy Pennartz, DFort Smith, in the general election.
In the GOP primary in Senate District 15, state Rep. David Sanders of Little Rock panned state Rep. Ed Garner of Maumelle in a mailer for being delinquent in paying state taxes for what Garner, a champion of cutting capital-gains taxes, has described as a struggling bakery.
The winner will take on former state Rep. Johnny Hoyt, a Democrat from Morrilton, in the general election.
With 75 of 80 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Sanders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,288 Garner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,039
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 05/23/2012