The next election for secretary of state is in 2018, and two people said Wednesday that they plan to seek the office as Republican candidates.
They are state Land Commissioner John Thurston and Deputy Secretary of State Joseph Wood. Wood’s boss is Republican incumbent Mark Martin, who is prohibited by term limits from seeking re-election.
The secretary of state and land commissioner are two of the state’s seven constitutional officers. The secretary of state maintains the state Capitol and its grounds, assists counties with conducting elections and handles corporate filings. The land commissioner collects delinquent real estate taxes and grants mineral leases on state-owned lands.
Thurston said he just wants to let Arkansans know what his intentions are.
“I am beginning to be asked what I am going to do after [serving as] commissioner of state lands, and there is some speculation and rumors out there,” he said in an interview.
“This is not the start of a campaign, but … it is an informal announcement to inform my constituents,” Thurston said, adding that “this is an important election year, and there is a lot to be done before 2018.”
Thurston, of Little Rock, has served as land commissioner since 2011. Like Martin, he is term-limited; their second four-year terms will end in January 2019. He was little-known in political circles before his 2010 election, when he was an employee of the Agape Church in Little Rock.
He said he plans “to finish strong and hand the office over in the best shape that it has been in.”
Martin, of Prairie Grove, has said he doesn’t plan to run for another office in 2018.
Thurston said he didn’t know whether House Speaker Jeremy Gillam of Judsonia, Auditor Andrea Lea of Russellville or Wood also will run for the Republican nomination for secretary of state in 2018. The 2018 primary election will be held on May 22, 2018, according to the secretary of state’s office.
But Wood, of Fayetteville, who has been deputy secretary of state since 2011, confirmed in a brief telephone interview his intention to seek the office.
As deputy secretary of state, he heads the divisions of Communication, Education and Business Commercial Services, said Martin spokesman Chris Powell.
Wood is a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. human-resources executive and career consultant as well as a former state Republican Party treasurer. In December 2008, Wood narrowly lost to Doyle Webb of Benton to be chairman of the state Republican Party. Wood sought to become the first black chairman of the state party.
Gillam said Wednesday that he is weighing running for secretary of state in 2018, after many people asked him to consider the option.
“At the proper time I am going to give it some serious thought down the road,” he said. He said he probably won’t make a decision whether to seek the office until this time next year.
“I may do something completely different after I complete my next term in the House,” said Gillam, who has served in the House since 2011.
“I have to take it one step at a time. I have to get ready for the 2017 session. That’s where my head is right now,” he said.
Lea, who was elected as state auditor in 2014, declined to say whether she is considering running for secretary of state in 2018. The auditor, also a state constitutional officer, is the general accountant for the state and serves as the payroll officer for the executive, legislative and judicial branches, according to the office’s website.
“For now, I believe my time is best spent doing the job Arkansans elected me to do rather than concerning myself with an election two years from now. I’ll continue to work to get Republicans elected and when the time is appropriate I’ll make a decision with my family regarding what my future holds,” said Lea, who previously served in the state House of Representatives from 2009-15.
No Democrats have publicly expressed an interest in running for secretary of state in 2018 yet.
The secretary of state’s salary is $90,000 a year.
The secretary of state is a member of the Board of Apportionment, which draws boundaries for legislative districts every 10 years, something that’s scheduled for 2021. (The Legislature draws congressional district boundaries.) The other two board members are the governor and the attorney general.
Asa Hutchinson is the state’s governor and Leslie Rutledge is the state’s attorney general. Both Republicans are widely expected to run for re-election in 2018, though they’ve not announced their intentions yet.
Thurston said he hopes to play a role on the state Board of Apportionment drawing lines that are fair and logical to the public and don’t favor the Republican Party. “I think gerrymandering is insulting to the public,” he said.
Asked about Thurston’s remarks, Wood, the deputy secretary of state, said, “I have no comment about statements he is making.”
Wood said he would work with the governor and attorney general to make sure that “we follow the law” and are equitable in drawing boundaries for legislative districts.
The land commissioner’s job pays $85,000 a year. State Rep. Laurie Rushing, R-Hot Springs, has said she is considering running for the job in 2018. Landscape architect Mark Robertson, a Little Rock Democrat who lost to Thurston in 2014, said Wednesday he hasn’t ruled out running for the job again in 2018.