PINE BLUFF -- Kenneth B. Ferguson defeated Winfred A. "Win" Trafford II in Tuesday's Democratic primary runoff for the state House District 16 seat by nearly 200 votes.
Complete but unofficial results are:
Ferguson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,167
Trafford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .974
Both men are from Pine Bluff.
The seat is currently held by state Rep. James Word, D-Pine Bluff, who is term-limited. No Republican filed, so the winner of the runoff will win the seat.
Ferguson, 62, worked for Pine Bluff for more than 27 years and served as director of human resources from 1982-2007. He went on to serve as executive director of the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board and has served as Arkansas workforce investment director for the Department of Workforce Services for the past four years.
He is a member of the Governor's Workforce Cabinet and has served as board member of the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission and the board of trustees for Southeast Arkansas College.
During his campaign, Ferguson said one of his top priorities was job creation for the district, a message he echoed Tuesday night.
"I am committed to the constituents of District 16," he said. "Above all, I will represent my constituents' interest without personal agendas and work on behalf of their issues and concerns."
Ferguson is a 1973 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where he earned a bachelor's degree in social science, and a 1969 graduate of the former Merrill High School in Pine Bluff.
He said his time with the Workforce Services Department has shown "that there is a need to properly educate students to meet the needs of area employers.
"Education and economic development go hand-in-hand. I had a role in working with state legislators to designate $10 million to $15 million as part of a plan to train people to match the needs of available jobs," he said.
Ferguson also said that "thinking regionally among the counties in Southeast Arkansas is key to developing this area," adding that he plans to carry this message with him to the Legislature.
"In an economically depressed area, you have to work together if you are going to succeed," Ferguson said. "That is one thing I have always said and will continue to work toward. We have to create jobs and push this area forward. But we can only do that if we all work together."
State Desk on 06/11/2014