RISON - Gov. Sarah Sanders has set Tuesday, Aug. 18, as the special partisan primary election date to decide candidates to fill the District 1 State Senate seat left vacant following the recent resignation of Republican Ben Gilmore.
Should a runoff be required, it would be held Tuesday, Sept. 15.
Those candidates selected through the primaries will then face off in a special election that will coincide with the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The winner will complete the remainder of Gilmore’s term, which goes through the end of January 2029. Gilmore officially stepped down on June 30 to join the state Attorney General’s office.
Sanders made the special election declaration last Thursday. District 1 includes all of Cleveland, Ashley, Bradley and Drew counties and portions of Chicot, Desha, Grant, Jefferson and Lincoln counties.
Candidates from any political party seeking the position must submit their notices of candidacy, political practices pledges, and affidavits of eligibility with the Secretary of State’s Office from noon Monday, July 13, through noon Thursday, July 16.
Independent candidates for the special election, if any, must submit petitions to the Secretary of State’s office in Little Rock no later than noon Friday, Aug. 7. Petitions in support of independent candidates may be circulated from Friday, July 17, through noon Friday, Aug. 7. The number of signatures required on the petition shall be reduced proportionately pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 7-7-103(b)(5).
While the official filing period does not open until next week, two Republican candidates have announced their intentions to run for the District 1 position: Laura “Missy” Wardlaw of the Johnsville community in Bradley County and Harrell Wilson of the Staves community.
Wardlaw is the wife of current District 94 State Rep. Jeff Wardlaw. She lost by 87 votes to Kyle Day of Monticello in the Republican primary to replace her husband in the state House of Representatives. Jeff Wardlaw …