Results Mixed From Tuesday's Primary Elections

DID A RUNOFF RESULT IN SUPREME COURT RACE DUE TO ‘DARK’OUT O F STATE MONEY

This column was written five days before the May 22 Primary Elections were decided by voters due to deadline for this publication.

So who did win Tuesday night?

Well, several of the top vote-getters in the state's two Political Party Primaries will no doubt be claiming victory today in Arkansas.

One should safely predict that Gov. Asa Hutchinson won the nomination of the Republican Party over the loud and conservative candidate, Jan Morgan of Hot Springs, a gun range owner.

That's the prediction, but stranger things have happened.

I think Ms. Morgan may have scarred up the Governor desired vote totals by collecting more GOP votes than anticipated.

Even as Asa ratcheted up his conservative message over the last few weeks with advertisements on "value of life," and "the Second Amendment" that he will defend in the final days of the primary campaign, she collected more votes than Asa would have liked against him.

One should also predict that Jarden Henderson, a former executive director for Teach for America, won out handily against unknown hairdresser Leticia Sanders.

Voters on the Democratic side found out late that Ms. Sanders would favor abortion in the case of rape. Plus, she wanted more distribution of individual wealth in the state by raising taxes on the rich.

The most unknown issue that voters will realize on Wednesday morning is simply this:

Did a run-off evolve, which will not be decided until November's General Election, in the race for a state Supreme Court seat?

The three-way race for the Supreme Court seat almost dictated from the starting gate that there would be a long and protracted run-off, ironically not settled in two weeks like other party runoffs, but one mandated to last until the next general election ballot in November.

Justice Courtney Goodson, who has had her share of criticism after a rather ugly high profile divorce and for then marrying an even higher profile and very rich lawyer as a second husband, was defending her Supreme Court seat in this election.

Out of state 'dark money' from unknown sources was highlighting Justice Goodson's penchant for taking gifts and currying favor from other attorneys known to her and her husband.

Appeals Court Judge Kenneth Hixson was seeking to move up to the Supreme Court from the Court of Appeals. His quiet but forceful campaign to unseat Goodson may have been de-railed after a "dark money" ad highlighting Hixson's alleged reversal in a case involving a child abductor and molester.

Adding to the mix of messages was the last minute entry of a very right wing conservative lawyer, David Sterling. In a few ads by Sterling, he made moves to gather in the conservatives with flag waving and muted messages of independence, as he sought to muddy the judicial waters by offering voters a non-judge candidate for the seat.

So we now sit and wait until November to see the eventual outcome in this race, unless some rather startling and aggressive campaigning by one of these three judicial candidates pulled out of a runoff on Tuesday night.

Get ready, I predict, for more judicial campaigning in the next seven months.

The real loser on Tuesday was the voters and the process.

Less than one-third of all the registered voters participated -- way less than 33.3 percent I am sure.

With the lackluster turnout of early voting at Voting Centers in Benton and Washington counties and the lack of actual races where primary voting was to make a real difference, there was less than the usual number of ballots cast.

Voting, even early voting, was now easier, faster and more secure than ever. Yet fewer and fewer people are taking advantage.

That is a sad and sorry state of affairs for the political process.

Voter turnout to vote was dismal and disappointing.

MAYLON RICE IS A FORMER JOURNALIST WHO WORKED FOR SEVERAL NORTHWEST ARKANSAS PUBLICATIONS. HE CAN BE REACHED VIA EMAIL AT [email protected]. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.

Editorial on 05/23/2018