364 file to run for office in Arkansas; filing period closes

LITTLE ROCK — The filing period for state and federal candidates to run in Arkansas' election next year has closed.

The secretary of state's office said 364 people filed to run for office in Arkansas by the noon Monday deadline. Nonpartisan judicial candidates can continue filing paperwork until 3 p.m.

Six Democrats filed to run in the state's presidential primary by the end of filing, while 13 Republicans have filed.

Monday morning, a Tennessee lawyer who won 42 percent of the vote in the state's Democratic presidential primary in 2012 filed to run for the White House again in the state.

John Wolfe said Arkansas is the first state he has filed in for the 2016 election.

Wolfe sued the state Democratic Party after he wasn't awarded any delegates despite winning 42 percent of the vote in the 2012 primary against President Barack Obama. The party had argued it had the right to deny him delegates because he had not filed two documents required by the party.

A federal judge later dismissed Wolfe's lawsuit.

Representatives of Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal also filed paperwork Monday at the state Capitol to run in the March 1 primary.

Lawmakers earlier this year moved up the state's primary from May to March 1, part of an effort to create a regional nominating contest among Southern states.

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