North Little Rock Democrat Zach Randall will seek election next year to the House District 41 seat held by state Rep. Karilyn Brown, R-Sherwood, he announced on Wednesday.
Randall, 31, is a corporate pilot and airport duty manager for the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.
Afterward, Sherwood Democrat Jannie Cotton said she is considering running for the House District 41 seat as well. She is a 65-year-old retired chief executive officer of Professional Counseling Associates, which is a community mental health center that serves Lonoke, Prairie and Pulaski counties.
Brown, 71, has served in the House since 2015. She is a technical writer.
Randall said he is running for the House seat because "I really want to make a difference for everyday Arkansans." He said his top priorities would be fostering middle-class economic growth, reducing taxes, and improving health care and education.
"I want the folks in my district to know I am a moderate, I'm a centrist and not going to take a stand just because of party. I am going to listen to both sides of every argument and I am going to make the best decision for the district and not just walk a party and ideological line," Randall said.
He said he explored running for lieutenant governor in 2018, but decided against doing so because his mother was battling colon cancer and his wife was expecting the couple's first child. (His mother later died.)
Last year, Brown survived a challenge from Democrat Jonathan Crossley by a 6,345 to 5,422 margin, according to the secretary of state's office. She was unopposed in 2016.
Brown said Wednesday afternoon that she doesn't know either Randall or Cotton. She said she is glad to be running for re-election and loves Sherwood. Brown said she's getting good feedback from her constituents.
The party filing period will be from noon Nov. 4 until noon Nov. 12. Next year's primary election will be March 3 and the general election will be Nov. 3.
State lawmakers are paid $41,393 a year in salary, while the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore make a $47,277 a year in salary. In addition, they are paid per diem and mileage for attending legislative meetings.
Metro on 08/15/2019