Five Little Rock Democrats are seeking their party's nomination for the vacant seat in House District 36.
Before the deadline of noon Friday, candidate paperwork was filed with the secretary of state's office by:
• State Workers' Compensation Commission law clerk Philip Hood.
• Businessman Darrell Stephens.
• Barber Roderick Talley.
• Homemaker Denise Ennett.
• College student Russell Williams III.
House District 36 includes part of downtown and eastern Little Rock and the southeast part of Pulaski County.
The seat became vacant when House Democratic leader Charles Blake resigned May 17 to become Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.'s chief of staff. Blake represented the district since 2015.
The special primary election is Aug. 6. If no candidate wins a majority of the voters, the top two vote-getters will meet in a Sept. 3 runoff.
The winner of the primary will be unopposed in the Nov. 5 special election because no Republican, independent or write-in candidates filed.
"We had candidates considering running in District 36 but timing was not right for their candidacy," state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb said Friday. "We'll look at the district again later."
The special election will fill the remainder of Blake's two-year term, through January 2021. The 100-member House now has 76 Republicans and 23 Democrats.
The state salary for representatives and senators is $41,393 a year. Lawmakers also are eligible for per diem and mileage during legislative sessions and for attending meetings between sessions.
Hood, Ennett, Stephens and Williams each paid the $1,500 filing fee to the state Democratic Party, while Talley collected at least 216 signatures of people who are registered Democratic voters or voted in the party's May 2018 primary, said party spokesman Jacob Kauffman.
Hood said he wants to help the working class and make sure all people in the district are treated with equity, and that resources in the district are shared equally.
He served on the Workers' Compensation Commission from 2007 through January of this year and is now a clerk at the commission. He is 48 and married with two children.
Stephens, who unsuccessfully challenged Blake in the Democratic primary in May 2018, said he is running because "there's so much division in our politics."
"Watching the last session, just back-and-forth, Democrat, Republican, you know, when you have those types of things going on, nothing gets done," he said.
Stephens said he wants to focus on senior citizens, veterans, people with disabilities and the working middle class. He owns Stephens Solutions employment service. He is 45, single and has one child.
Talley said he would be the best candidate for the House seat because "I'm a candidate of the people."
"I have no political endorsements," said Talley, who said he isn't afraid to fight corruption or to make an unpopular decision. He said he has sacrificed his life in ways that other candidates have not.
Talley's allegation of false affidavits and arrests against the Little Rock Police Department drew national attention after an October opinion piece in The Washington Post. At his request in April, a federal lawsuit challenging the legality of a no-knock warrant was dismissed after two failed attempts to amend the lawsuits.
In November, Talley was arrested outside the Cross County Courthouse, where he was scheduled for a jury trial on a forgery charge, and he was accused of fleeing, stealing a rental car and hitting a sheriff's deputy with it. At that time, Talley's attorney, Michael Laux, said his office considered that Talley's failure-to-appear arrest made at the courthouse, after he appeared late for his jury trial, to be in retaliation for Talley's part in the civil-rights lawsuit in Little Rock.
Talley said he will appear in court June 24 on the forgery charge, to which he has pleaded innocent. He said he is not guilty of fleeing, stealing a rental car or hitting a sheriff's deputy with it.
He is 31, single and has two children.
Ennett, 41, said she is running for the House seat because she is native of Little Rock who has lived in District 36 and chose to move back here when her husband retired from the U.S. Air Force to raise their three children.
"I want to see this area go good, and all the stuff that is going down now is not good," she said. She said she wants to work to develop state policies to help Arkansans with health care, support the Little Rock School District, and improve the economy and infrastructure.
Williams, who is studying political science at Philander Smith College, said he has "a sincere interest in central Arkansas" and wants to be part of the efforts to make the city grow. He said he wants to be an advocate for college students and public school students.
He said he originally hails from Opelousas, La., and has lived in Little Rock for the past 4½ years. He is 21 and single.
Information for this article was contributed by John Moritz of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 06/08/2019