The five Democrats running next month in a special primary to fill a vacancy in a state House seat in southeast Pulaski County are relying on their disparate backgrounds — from a college student to veteran public servants — to stand out in the crowded field.
No major policy questions divide the candidates, according to recent interviews.
Each declined when offered the chance to point criticism at any of their opponents — or the record of the former representative from District 36, then-House Minority Leader Charles Blake.
Instead, when asked what would make them stand out to voters, each candidate referred to personal qualities and histories.
Darrell Stephens, 45, who unsuccessfully challenged Blake in the 2018 primary, pointed to his experience running in the district.
Philip Hood, 47, said his qualifications as a former member of the Worker’s Compensation Commission made him stand out.
Russell Williams III, a 19-year-old rising senior at Philander Smith College, said, “I’m basically just relying on my youth.”
Denise Ennett, 42, a board member of the Historic Arkansas Museum and Mosaic Templars Center, said being a wife and mother gave her a different perspective than her male opponents.
The fifth candidate, Roderick Talley, 31, pointed to his highly public legal battles with the Little Rock Police Department, which were publicized in a series of Washington Post articles last year about the department’s use of “no knock” warrants. While the publicity from the articles led to a change in department policies, they also led to greater scrutiny of Talley’s run-ins with police and his misdemeanor convictions.
“If being arrested makes me a bad person,” Talley said when asked to address the issue, “then there’s a lot of people who are bad.”
The primary for House District 36 will be held Aug. 6, with a possible runoff Sept. 3 if no candidate wins an outright majority. Early voting is July 30 to Aug. 5, with no voting on the weekend.
No Republican filed to run in the district, which stretches from Little Rock’s Clinton Presidential Library to the Pulaski County line with Jefferson County. The winner of the primary would serve the remainder of Blake’s term, which expires in January 2021.
Blake resigned from his seat in May and later took a job as Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott’s chief of staff.
The outcome of the primary is potentially complicated by a felony forgery charge Talley faces in Cross County. If convicted of that charge or another “infamous crime,” Talley would be ineligible to serve in the General Assembly under Article 5, Section 9, of the Arkansas Constitution.
The charge stems from what authorities said was a forged check, this newspaper previously reported. During a scheduled court appearance on the forgery charge last November, Talley showed up late and fled the courthouse when officers tried to arrest him on a failure-to-appear warrant. That incident resulted in additional felony charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, battery, theft of property and fleeing. Talley is set for trial on those charges, as well as the forgery charge, Sept. 11 in Cross County.
“I didn’t commit forgery,” Talley said in a phone interview last week. He said the charge resulted from his attempting to cash a check that was written out to both him and one of his previous attorneys, without getting the attorney’s signature. Talley also claimed that officials in Cross County were trying to punish him for speaking out against police in Little Rock.
Talley said the potential for the charges to affect his political ambitions would not impact his legal efforts, and said he was “confident” in his attorneys.
“I won’t be convicted, nor will I be taking a plea,” Talley said.
Chris Powell, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said state election officials will wait until the outcome of the election — and Talley’s trial — to determine if any action needs to be taken.
“In the event that [a conviction] did occur, and they had won a certain election, that would be a challenge,” Powell said.
Talley said his experiences with police and the courts are what led him to launch his campaign for state office. He said his platform includes criminal justice and prison reform, as well as supporting the ratification of the U.S. Equal Rights Amendment.
Among the other candidates, Ennett said her platform includes a return of the Little Rock School district to local control. Hood, Stephens and Williams each pointed to general topics — such as health care, education and job growth — as major issues of their campaigns.
Information about donors for the candidates was not unavailable last week. Their first campaign finance reports are due July 15.
A forum for the candidates will be held July 13 at the Willie Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center in Little Rock.