State Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, will challenge Republican Secretary of State John Thurston of East End next year, Lowery announced Wednesday.
They would compete in the May 2022 primary for the Republican nomination for the position.
Lowery said he would be a fighter and not a figurehead as secretary of state. He accused Thurston of being AWOL on election integrity and protecting the state Capitol.
In response, Thurston said he's thankful to receive the support of Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Little Rock and many Republican lawmakers and leaders across all levels of government in Arkansas.
"I look forward to traveling the state and sharing our accomplishments, specifically our work to ensure that the 2020 election was safe and secure, how we provided new computers for counties to help engage in voter registration, and our actions to modernize the Capitol Police into a professional, highly-trained force," Thurston said in a written statement.
Lowery, 64, has served in the state House of Representatives since 2013 and is chairman of the House Insurance and Commerce Committee.
Thurston, 48, has been secretary of state since 2019. He was also land commissioner from 2011-19.
Former Pulaski County Election Commissioner Joshua Price of Maumelle said he is considering running for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state next year and plans to announce his plans next week.
The secretary of state is the state's chief election official. The office holder chairs the state Board of Election Commissioners and is responsible for maintaining and improving the state Capitol and its grounds. The office also collects corporate franchise taxes and processes filings for corporations and nonprofit groups. Also, the secretary of state serves on the three-member state Board of Apportionment, which draws the boundaries for legislative districts every 10 years.
The secretary of state's current salary is $98,371 a year.
Lowery told about 30 people attending a conservative group's weekly luncheon in Little Rock, "I am going to take my love for making sure that the electoral process is kept legitimate, it is kept fair, it is kept guarded and protected," and challenge Thurston in 2022.
"I know it is an uphill climb," Lowery said. "It is never a welcome thing to run against an incumbent and especially an incumbent like John Thurston, who is a very nice guy. As far as Republican credentials are concerned, he travels the state quite a bit going to Reagan/Rockefeller dinners and Lincoln Day dinners and is consistent in that."
Of 18 election-related bills Lowery supported before the Legislature, neither Thurston nor anyone from his office asked to testify on behalf of any of them, Lowery said.
"That office should have been front and center saying that this is something that we support," Lowery said.
Regarding the protection of the state Capitol, Lowery said the building was defaced in last year's riots over treatment of Blacks, with curse words painted on the tunnel entrance and the words "Black Lives Matter" spray painted on the front steps.
"And not one single word of condemnation came from the secretary of state's office that day or the day after or the week after, to attacking to the people's house," Lowery said. "The people's house should have been protected. That shouldn't have happened and I can promise you as secretary of state that I will make sure that it never happens."
In July 2020, a legislative panel approved Thurston's request for 10 more Capitol police officer positions to provide what Thurston said would be much-needed security coverage at all times for the building and its tenants, guests and visitors. Thurston's request to add to the then-23-member police force came more than a month and a half after a series of nightly protests at the Capitol following the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minnesota on May 25, 2020.
In his remarks at the conservative group's luncheon, Lowery said Thursday that he sponsored the bill that became the state's voter ID law in 2017 and voters in 2018 approved a proposed constitutional amendment to require voter ID in order to cast ballots.
"The confidence that voters have, Americans have, in the ballot has been decreasing year by year and that affects voter turnout," he said.
"Both sides, Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal, should agree that what we want and need in a Republic democracy is more people voting, not less, and they want to accuse us Republicans of suppressing the vote, of disenfranchising, not at all," Lowery said. "We want to make sure that the integrity and the faith in the electoral process is heightened."
That's why "a number of us sponsored 18 different bills this session [and] we passed 16 of them" and strengthened the voter ID law this year, Lowery said.
This year, Lowery sponsored House Bill 1112, now Act 249, which removes a provision in current law that allows voters to bypass the ID requirement by signing their names.
Afterward, a spokesman for Thurston declined to respond to Lowery's wide-ranging criticism of the incumbent.
Thurston said in a written statement, "Having served for over 10 years as Commissioner of State Lands and Secretary of State, I am aware of both the needs of Arkansans and efficient ways to address them.
"I am excited for voters to have the opportunity to review not only policy positions, but also the background and qualifications of any candidate who chooses to enter this race," he said.