RISON - District 16 State Senator Kim Hammer of Benton, a candidate for Arkansas Secretary of State, spoke to the Cleveland County Republican Party during their monthly meeting Tuesday at the Veterans Building in Rison.Hammer said he has been term-limited in the state legislature after serving eight years in the House of Representatives and eight years in the state Senate. He represents Saline and western Pulaski County in the legislature.Hammer said he decided to run for Secretary of State since many of the issues he has dealt with in the legislature are related to the office. For instance, Hammer sponsored legislation for create the “Living Wall: A Monument to the Unborn” on the capitol grounds in Little Rock. The Secretary of State office oversees the capitol grounds.The Living Wall was established through Act 310 of 2023, and was signed into law by Gov. Sarah Sanders. The purpose of the monument is to remember the deaths of unborn children in Arkansas during the 49 years of Roe v. Wade. Arkansas Right to Life is helping raise the funds to build the Wall, which Hammer said with be filled with living plants.While one of the primary missions of the Secretary of State’s office is to oversee elections in the state, Hammer said he feels there is good election integrity and security in place and it would be his duty to maintain that.Hammer said one of his goals as Secretary of State is for the office to be as business friendly as possible since the office handles a variety of business filings. He said he would like to freshen up the Secretary of State website to make it more user friendly. In addition, he said he feels the Arkansas State Capitol grounds are one of the most beautiful in the country, and he would like to maintain that beauty. Hammer also noted that the Secretary of State is also in charge of the capitol police.Hammer is pastor of Saline Missionary Baptist Church at Tull in Grant C...
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