Jacksonville Mayor Bob Johnson filed for re-election Wednesday.
Johnson, the mayor since 2019, started his political career in 1998, when he was appointed to the Pulaski County Quorum Court by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee. According to state law, Johnson could not succeed himself in the office and serve the following term because he was appointed.
He then ran for the seat a few years later. He served a total of 10 years on the Quorum Court, which is the governing body of Pulaski County.
In 2014, he ran for state representative, District 42, which included part of Pulaski County. He was re-elected in 2016 and left office in January 2019 to serve as Jacksonville's mayor.
Johnson will face at least one challenger in the November election, Jim Moore, chairman of the Jacksonville Planning Commission. Moore is a member of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School Board, representing Zone 3 since 2015. He filed Tuesday as a candidate for mayor.
Reedie Ray filed for re-election Wednesday for the Ward 3, Position 1 seat on the Jacksonville City Council. He is a former school board member in the Pulaski County Special School District, serving from 1992-1996.
The filing period for municipal elections in the cities of Jacksonville and Sherwood ends at noon on May 23. The filing period for elections in other Pulaski County cities has not yet started.
Municipal, nonpartisan elections will be held Nov. 8, the date of the general election. Early voting will start Oct. 24.
Here is a list from the county clerk's office of people who had filed so far for Jacksonville and Sherwood elective office through the end of the business day Wednesday:
Jacksonville
Mayor
Jim Moore
Bob Johnson (Incumbent)
City Council
Ward 3, Position 1
Reedie Ray (Incumbent)
Sherwood
Mayor
Virginia Hillman Young (Incumbent)
Brett Johnson
Shane Foster
Mary Jo Heye-Townsell
(Heye-Townsell is the Ward 2, Position 1 representative on the Sherwood City Council.)
City Attorney
Steve Cobb (Incumbent)
City Clerk
Charlotte Watson
City Council
Ward 1, Position 1
April Ford Broderick (Incumbent)
Ward 2, Position 1
Shelby Thomas
Ward 3, Position 1
Beverly Williams (Incumbent)
Ward 4, Position 1
Timothy W. McMinn (Incumbent)
Kyle Wade
The offices up for election in Sherwood are Mayor, City Attorney, City Clerk, Treasurer, Ward 1, Position 1; Ward 2, Position 1; Ward 3, Position 1; and Ward 4, Position 1.
In Jacksonville, the offices open for election are Mayor, City Attorney, City Clerk/ Treasurer, and City Council (Ward 1 through 5, Positions 1), according to the city clerk's office.