A former executive director of the state Republican Party, who managed U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2014, started work as the Arkansas Educational Television Network's professional relations director this week.
Marty Ryall, 52, said Wednesday that he's "been looking to get back to Arkansas" after working out of state on political campaigns for many years and that "this has worked out."
Ryall will be paid $63,383 a year. The job's duties include acting as liaison with legislative staff, the state's congressional delegation and AETN's commissioners.
Former state Rep. Stephanie Malone, R-Fort Smith, who was hired for the same post by AETN in April, resigned effective Sept. 1. Malone is now the policy/advocacy director for the Community Health Centers of Arkansas Inc. She served in the state House of Representatives from 2009 until January and is the niece of Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Rogers.
Ryall, a Lincoln County native, was hired from a pool of 75 applicants, said Lela Hodges, personnel manager at AETN.
"Under the circumstances, it seemed to be the best and prudent thing for us to do," said Allen Weatherly, AETN's executive director. In April, Malone had been selected as the top candidate for the job from a pool of 104 applicants, Weatherly said earlier this year. Malone's starting annual salary was $53,109.
Ryall was the executive director of the Republican Party of Arkansas from January 1993 until September 1995 and from March 2001 until December 2002. Between June 2002 and October 2003, he also served as the party's chairman.
He was campaign manager for Cantor for Congress in Virginia from June 2011-July 2014. After Cantor's primary defeat, Ryall was employed as an account manager for the Creative Direct mail and marketing firm in Richmond, Va., a job he left in November. Ryall had served as campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's campaign in North Carolina and for Georgia and North Carolina gubernatorial candidates.
Metro on 10/15/2015