SPRINGDALE -- Clint Penzo of Springdale won Tuesday's runoff for the District 88 state House seat, prevailing in a Republican primary that started as a three-man race.

Complete but unofficial results were:

Clint Penzo 692

Isaac Foley 505

Penzo thanked his supporters for the extra effort required to vote in an election where the House race was the only one on the ballot for voters of the district. "I especially want to thank my parents, who worked really hard for me," Penzo said.

As the Republican nominee, Penzo faces no Democratic opposition in November's general election. He is likely to replace state Rep. Lance Eads, R-Springdale, who successfully ran for the District 7 state Senate seat after one term in the House.

"I am so thankful to my supporters and to my opponents," Foley said. "I've learned so much. I'm excited to see the bright future that Springdale will enjoy."

District 88 covers Johnson and a portion of Springdale.

Penzo, 40, and Foley, 24, made it into a runoff in the March 1 GOP primary. That race removed engineer Phil Humbard, 57, from contention. The two runoff candidates were within 38 votes of each other out of about 4,000 cast in the March 1 primary results. Humbard made no endorsement in the runoff.

State law requires that a nominee receive a majority vote in either the primary or the runoff. Foley and Penzo each received less than 40 percent of the March 1 vote. Still, each candidate received more votes in the March 1 primary than they did combined in Tuesday's runoff.

This was the only legislative contest in Arkansas, Republican or Democratic, that resulted in a runoff, according to the secretary of state's office. Both candidates said after the primary that bringing out supporters for a runoff vote would be key. Tuesday's election totaled 1,197 votes compared to about 4,000 votes cast in the race on March 1.

Penzo ran as the only one of the three candidates to serve in public office, having spent one term as a Tontitown alderman from 2013 to 2015 before moving back to Springdale. He owns part of a real estate firm, a roofing company and a construction firm that builds custom homes. Humbard is the retired president of a Springdale engineering firm, ESI.

Foley grew up in Springdale and was educated at the University of Arkansas. He left Northwest Arkansas to accept a job in Little Rock as political director for the state GOP but returned to Springdale to run for the state House. Foley's parents are longtime business owners in Springdale, and his grandfathers on both sides of his family were early employees of Jones Truck Lines of Springdale. Foley became active in politics to help promote the conservative views of his home city, he said.

Metro on 03/23/2016