Another 51 hopefuls filed for office Tuesday, including opponents in the race for secretary of state and one treasurer candidate.
The second wave of candidates - down from 136 on the first day - included people running for circuit judge, prosecuting attorney, state representative and state senator.
Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Karen Baker and Court of Appeals Judge Larry Vaught both filed for re-election bids.
Many of the candidates for offices at the top of the ballot filed Monday, including several gubernatorial hopefuls.
Candidates have until noon Monday to file.
Democrat Susan Inman, a former Pulaski County election commissioner, filed for secretary of state, accompanied by several friends and family members.
Inman said filing was “the first step” in the campaign and that she felt good after submitting her paperwork and having her photograph taken by secretary of state’s office staff members.
“It’s exciting. It’s a happy day for me, and I’m looking forward to a good, avid, strong, exciting campaign,” Inman said.
Inman said she’s running to make the office more transparent. She said more could be done to educate voters, such as those who cast absentee ballots without the proper identification in Craighead County during the recent Senate District 21 race.
The voters were allowed to provide proof of identification after their votes were submitted, but critics of the law said there is no provision for dealing with similar scenarios in the future.
“We still have absentee voters that do not know what [is] expected of them when they send their ballot back [after voting]. So unless that’s done, you’re going to see this again. I’m an advocate of informing the voters of what is expected of them,” Inman said.
Republican incumbent Mark Martin, who filed for re-election less than 30 minutes later, said he was looking forward to beginning his campaign and touted his accomplishments in office.
“I think all of the election procedures have actually went off without any hitches whatsoever. We’ve done a very good job; we’ve got several elections under our belt,” he said.
Martin also praised the people he oversees.
“I think that my staff has performed not just wonderfully but magnificently for the last four years, and I’m just looking forward to letting the voters know that,” Martin said.
Republican Dennis Milligan, the Saline County circuit clerk who is running for state treasurer, filed for office Tuesday, accompanied by his campaign staff members, wife, granddaughters and son-in-law. He said filing was the “anti-climactic part” of the election, which he said has already been going on for a year and a half.
Milligan said the state’s private-option Medicaid expansion is important to many voters in the treasurer’s election because “people still want to know about your judgment. They want to know what you’re thinking, how you would lead.” Milligan is against the private option, and his opponent, state Rep. Duncan Baird, R-Lowell, supported the program.
“That seems to be the No. 1 thing, and again, it has little to do with the treasurer’s office,” Milligan said.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/26/2014