Delegates set for convention on Lampkin seat

The effort to find a new Democratic candidate for state House District 9 continued this week as the district's two southeast Arkansas counties selected delegates for a party convention Thursday.

The candidate selected at that convention will appear on two Nov. 8 ballots -- the general election ballot, for the seat's next two-year term starting in January, and a special election ballot to finish the current term. The seat became vacant when state Rep. Sheilla Lampkin, D-Monticello, died Saturday night of ovarian cancer.

Three candidates have declared their intention to seek the nomination. They are businessman Grant Pace and Department of Human Services attorney LeAnne Pittman Burch, both of Monticello, as well as Candace Jeffress of Crossett, a teacher and wife of former state Sen. Jimmy Jeffress. The Jeffresses are among the delegates from their county.

Former state Rep. Johnnie Bolin of Crossett previously said he was "leaning" toward a run, but in a phone interview Friday backed away, saying he "would have to be convinced to run." Instead, Bolin will serve as a delegate.

Monticello Republican Jim Hall won the March primary to appear on the general election ballot. He said Friday that he plans to notify party officials of his intent to run in the special election.

Six delegates from Drew County were selected at a meeting of the local Democratic Party in Monticello on Thursday night. Five delegates from Ashley County were selected in Crossett on Wednesday night. When the delegates meet Thursday, they will nominate and vote on the candidates.

The delegate portions were decided based on the number of Democratic votes cast in each county during the 2014 gubernatorial election, according to Drew County Democratic Party Secretary and Treasurer Dakota Blakney.

The delegates from Drew County are Ron Echols, Delbert Farrar, Jack Lassiter, Sandra Crowell, Monticello Mayor Zack Tucker and Blakney. The delegates from Ashley County are Candace Jeffress, Jimmy Jeffress, C.T. Foster, Emily Wisener and Bolin.

Lampkin, a former teacher who was in her third term when she passed away, ran unopposed in the March Democratic primary. The unexpected vacancy and number of delegates could pit the two counties against each other during the convention.

"In Drew County we want to keep a Drew County citizen in the representative's spot and we don't want to give that to Ashley County," Blakney said.

"I know there has been talk about coalescing around one candidate," said Tucker. "I know all three candidates and I know them well, I have not made a decision."

Bolin, the former state representative from Ashley County, rejected the idea that the convention would be split along county lines.

"I'm not rallying around anyone, I'm going to want to see what I hear at the convention," Bolin said. "We want someone that naturally works hard for southeast Arkansas."

Metro on 07/30/2016

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