With early voting starting Tuesday in a special runoff election, Russellville businessman Greg Standridge and former state Rep. Stan Berry of Dover are stressing their experience as they campaign for the Republican nomination in Senate District 16.
The runoff is Feb. 10. The winner will be unopposed in the April 14 special general election.
District 16 contains Newton and Pope counties and parts of Boone, Carroll and Van Buren counties. It's the third special election for a state senator in the region in the past 14 years.
The Senate seat became vacant in November.
Senate President Pro Tempore Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, resigned Nov. 10 to become Gov. Asa Hutchinson's transition director and chief of staff.
In the Jan. 13 Republican primary, Standridge finished first, receiving 2,124 votes, but failed to attain a majority.
Berry received 1,826 votes, resulting in the runoff. Russellville businessman Thomas Akin finished third with 490 votes, according to state election officials.
Standridge, 47, is co-owner of CSI Insurance and owns a mini-storage company. He has served as Russellville's constable since 1997.
Berry, 60, served in the state House of Representatives from 2003-09.
In December, he resigned as outreach coordinator for Secretary of State Mark Martin and entered the race. He's a retired Century Tel telephone company manager who worked five years as a community relations manager for Southwestern Energy Co.
Standridge said his small-business experience and public service sets him apart from Berry.
"Stan worked for the phone company, and that is not a bad thing," Standridge said. But, as a small-business owner, Standridge said, he had done many things that Berry never had to do.
He said his public service gives him "a broader perspective on a lot of different things that will come before the Legislature."
He's been the volunteer fire chief of the Crow Mountain Fire Department and a Pope County emergency medical services rescue technician. He's also a former president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Arkansas and Professional Insurance Agents of Arkansas.
Berry said he's the best candidate for the position. He cited his legislative experience and "my ability to hit the ground running when I get there and my relationship with a lot of people there at the Capitol.
"It's not like I have to make new friends," he said. "It is easy for me to understand the legislation and the legislative process. That separates the two of us."
Berry served on the Dover City Council for five years, on the Dover School Board for 18 years, on the Arkansas Rural Development Commission for two years and in the Arkansas Army National Guard for eight years. He also serves on the state's Alternative Energy Commission and the Tri County Water Commission.
Berry said he "really won't have an agenda other than serving my people. ... I'll have to study and see what is on the table when I get down there."
Standridge said public schools will be his top priority.
He said he favors changing the state law that requires school districts with fewer than 350 students to consolidate because each school district is different and should be judged on its own merits. Students shouldn't have bus rides that last more two hours one way, he said.
Berry said he voted against the school-consolidation law enacted in 2004 because he's always been an advocate for small school districts. He said he wants that law to be changed to allow for more flexibility in determining the fates of those school districts.
Berry said he agrees with Hutchinson's call for the Legislature to continue funding the private option through the end of 2016 and to create a legislative task force to make recommendations on changing the state's Medicaid program.
"It gives lawmakers a better view of the long-term issues of the private option," he said.
By 2017, the state will have to pay 5 percent of the cost of the private option. The state's cost will gradually increase to 10 percent in 2020.
Standridge said he also agrees with Hutchinson's plan for the private option because it gives lawmakers an opportunity to assess the entire Medicaid program.
"We will know more as time goes on here," he said. "It is something that we will be looking at and doing what is best for the great state of Arkansas."
Standridge and Berry each said he wants to make sure that Arkansas Tech University in Russellville gets its fair share of state funding. Both oppose raising taxes.
They also oppose abortion except to save the life of the mother.
Metro on 02/01/2015