Arkansas State Rep. Steven Walker, (R-27) and Wes Bradford (Fourth Judicial District Court) won their respective races in March 5 Super Tuesday preferential primary and nonpartisan judicial elections, according to results posted by the office of the Arkansas Secretary of State.
Rep. Walker, the incumbent, won a second term over challenger Timmy Reid. Walker received 3,037 votes and Reid collected 1,988 votes in the district that includes Newton, Searcy, and Izard counties and a portion of Baxter and Stone. Walker caught 60.44% of the 6,527 total ballots cast.
Bradford and Phillip Moon ran for state district judge for District 4. The bench is being vacated by sitting judge Gail Inman-Campbell. The Fourth Judicial District Court consists of four departments: Alpena and Harrison (f/k/a Boone County District Court), Jasper (f/k/a Newton County District Court), and Marshall (f/k/a Searcy County District Court).
Prior to combining into one district court with four departments in 2017, the Boone, Newton, and Searcy county district courts operated independently, each with its own judge.
One Judge now presides over all departments.
Bradford received 5,366 votes while Moon received 1,990 votes.
In Newton County, 1,216 voters out of 6,006 total registered voters turned out to vote on Tuesday.
The state representative and district judge races were the only contests locally. There were no races for Newton County offices, nor were there contests for local school board seats. There were no millage increase requests, either.
Cong. Steve Womack, of Arkansas's 3rd district (consisting of six populous counties in Northwest Arkansas, won a close preferential primary race against Sen. Clint Penzo. Womack received 35,740 votes and Penzo collected 30,524.
Of national interest, Arkansas results for party candidates showed Democrats overwhelmingly voted in favor of Joe Biden for president.
Republicans followed the national trend giving Donald J. Trump 204,664 votes, while Nikki Haley received 49,035 votes.
The state's Supreme Court chief justice race is going to a runoff in the November election.
Three of the court's seven justices — Karen Baker, Barbara Webb, and Rhonda Wood — were running against former Arkansas Rep. Jay Martin for chief justice. The four ran to succeed Chief Justice Dan Kemp, who was first elected in 2016 and is not seeking reelection.
Results from the nonpartisan March race:
Baker: 27.2%
Martin: 21.61%
Webb 25.88%
Wood: 26.31%
Baker and Wood are projected to be the contestants in November's runoff, but nothing has been officially announced.
