Republicans and GOP candidates came to Arkadelphia from as far north as Rogers, as far south as Texarkana and El Dorado, and as far east as Bradley County on Saturday morning for a Fourth Congressional District meeting.

The Clark County Republican Committee hosted the meeting at the Arkadelphia Recreation Center, handling routine party business, touting its growing numbers and giving candidates a time slot to speak.

Among those to speak were local members of the Arkansas General Assembly, state Rep. Richard Womack and state Sen. Charles Beckham. Both incumbent candidates have opponents for the May primary election. Their respective opponents, Alan Floyd and Steve Crowell, were not present at Saturday’s gathering.

Two Republican candidates seeking the office of lieutenant governor, Doyle Webb and Jason Rapert, were present. Rapert, a current state senator, used a portion of his speaking time to play a Ricky Skaggs tune on fiddle. He then went on to say his Christian values steer his stance on social issues.

Webb, a longtime chair of the state Republican Party, said he advised the lieutenant governor on two milestone occasions: when Jim Guy Tucker was ousted as governor and barricaded himself in the governor’s mansion, and when former Gov. Mike Huckabee was out of state after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Webb’s closing comment was that he wouldn’t “fiddle around” as the lieutenant governor.

Others who spoke included state Treasurer candidates Mathew Pitsch and Mark Lowery, Attorney General candidate Leon Jones, and Arkansas Supreme Court candidates Gunner DeLay and David Sterling.