Sterling, Rutledge go on in attorney general race

Former Little Rock deputy prosecutor Leslie Rutledge will face former Hope city manager David Sterling in a runoff election next month for the GOP nomination for attorney general.

In balloting Tuesday, neither Sterling nor Rutledge reached the majority needed to advance to the November general election against Democratic state Rep. Nate Steel and Libertarian Aaron Cash.

At 11:20 p.m., with 2256 of 2459 precincts reporting, Rutledge had 76,786 votes, or 47 percent, while Sterling had 63,099 votes, or 39 percent.

If the results are authenticated, the runoff will be held June 10. Finishing third in the GOP primary was Jacksonville civil rights lawyer Patricia Nation, who had 22,089 votes, or 14 percent of the vote.

All three Republican candidates had vowed to fight what they called the federal government's "overreach" on issues ranging from health care to the environment.

Sterling said he wanted Arkansas to use the electric chair to resume executions. Arkansas hasn't executed anyone since 2005 and hasn't used the electric chair in 24 years.

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