Two candidates challenge Crawford in 1st Congressional District

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District has a unique group of candidates vying to represent east Arkansas in Congress.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Rick Crawford is running against a Democrat and a Libertarian. Little Rock Public Radio was in talks with Crawford’s office for weeks to do an interview that ultimately never materialized. The station sent him the same list of questions we asked the other two candidates.

Crawford has been in his job since 2011. He is a Tea Party conservative, who believes in smaller government, minimal spending and stronger borders. He also serves as chairman of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee.

His two opponents are Rodney Govens, the Democrat, and Steve Parsons, the Libertarian.

Two candidates challenge Crawford in 1st Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Congressman Rick Crawford (left), Libertarian Steve Parsons (middle), Democrat Rodney Govens (right).

Arkansas Democratic candidates file to run for Congress

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

Many candidates running for office in 2024 completed their paperwork at the Arkansas State Capitol on Monday. That includes three Democratic candidates running against Republican incumbents for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives; Rodney Govens in District 1, Marcus Jones in District 2, and Caitlin Draper in District 3.

The three candidates were endorsed by VortexPAC, a federal hybrid PAC run by former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Jones. Standing on the steps of the State Capitol, Jones said he wanted to make Arkansas more of a “voting state” by giving citizens more reasons to get out and vote.

“It's time for a change,” he said. “It's time for us to bring average Arkansans who are rooted in Arkansas to the table, and give Arkansans an option for who to represent them in their congressional districts.”

Arkansas Democratic candidates file to run for Congress

VortexPAC/Courtesy Photo

(From left) VortexPAC Executive Director Robb Ryerse, Democratic candidates Rodney Govens, Caitlin Draper and Marcus Jones, and VortexPAC co-founder Chris Jones stand on the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock Monday.

First day of filing sees Thurston jump in Treasurer’s race, Democrat to challenge Crawford in CD1

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

The first day of candidate filing at the Arkansas State Capitol ended with 215 filings, including Republican Secretary of State John Thurston running for an open State Treasurer position and an unexpected Democrat filing for U.S. Congress in District 1.

Thurston, who previously announced he would seek the remainder of the term from the late Mark Lowery, was the first to file on Monday (Nov. 6). If he is elected, he will be eligible to serve 10 years – the remaining two years of Lowery’s term and two four-year terms. No other candidates filed for the position.

Rodney Govens, a 40-year year old Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran from Cabot, filed as a Democrat in the First Congressional District, the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro.

First day of filing sees Thurston jump in Treasurer’s race, Democrat to challenge Crawford in CD1