Judge Finalists Answer Questions at Forum

RISON - The final two candidates competing for Cleveland County Judge in the Republican runoff election were in agreement on several issues as they responded to questions submitted by the public during the Cleveland County Republican Committee’s political forum held last Thursday at Rison.Jim Houston of the Rye community and Stephen McClellan of New Edinburg answered 16 questions during the hour and a half forum held in the Family Life Center at Bethel #1 Missionary Baptist Church near Rison. Bethel #1 Pastor Mike Goodwin was the moderator. A video of the entire forum can be viewed at the Cleveland County Herald’s Facebook page.The winner of the Republican runoff for county judge will be unopposed in the November general election since no other candidates have filed for the seat.Houston and McClellan finished first and second, respectively, among the four candidates who ran for county judge in the March 3 Republican primary. Rickey Spencer of Kingsland and Rosemary Sinclair of the Staves community were the other two candidates.Houston settled in the Rye community after retiring from a career in operations management that included jobs across the U.S. and Southeast Asia. He served two terms on the Faulkner County Quorum Court representing the Mayflower area. A native of Drew County, he said he moved to the Rye area to be closer to children and grandchildren.McClellan is an eighth-generation native of the New Edinburg area who attended school at Kingsland before graduating from Rison High School. He previously served as the Cleveland County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) coordinator under his uncle, the late County Judge Gary Spears.  After leaving that job, he worked as a state preparedness coordinator for the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management.Both candidates had an opportunity to make their pitch in an opening statement. Houston said he will bring a business-like approach to running county ...