Decide soon if you want to run for office next year

By STEVE BRAWNER

Do you think you might want to someday run as a Republican or Democrat for public office in Arkansas? If it might be in the November 2026 elections, you now have less time to decide. 

Under Act 405, recently signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas’ primary elections during nonpresidential elections permanently will be moved to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March. Next year, that will be March 3. They previously occurred the second Tuesday in May.

The state already held its primary elections in presidential years in March. That started in 2016, when seven Southern states held their elections the same day early in the calendar to create the so-called “SEC primary.” They did this so they could be more relevant in the presidential selection process. By May, both parties generally have selected their candidates. 

The law, sponsored by Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, and Rep. Jeremy Woodridge, R-Marmaduke, certainly has logical underpinnings. No more bouncing between March one election and May the next.

“We have said that it matters to us to have our presidential elections at this time so that Arkansas has more of a voice, more presidential candidates, and I suspect in four years there’ll be a lot of candidates from both sides,” Hester told the Senate March 17. “We hope they come here and campaign in the state of Arkansas, and that we’re very relevant during that process. And if we value that, and we want consistency, then March is where we land at.”

That logic, and Hester being the Senate president pro tempore, helped the bill pass easily, 32-0 in the Senate and 89-0 in the House. The few lawmakers opposed to the bill registered their disagreement by voting “present” or not voting. 

There are issues, however, with moving things back in the calendar.

First, setting the primary date in early March elongates the already-too-lengthy electoral calendar. Candidates running for partisan offices, nonpartisan judicial offices, and many school board offices will have to file November 3-12 of this year for elections occurring Nov. 3 of next year. 

The math is pretty easy on that one. That’s a year of being in campaign mode, including a nine-month gap between the primary election and the general election. Then it will be another two months before they actually take office. The longer the process, the harder it is for average Arkansans to challenge an incumbent. The incumbent, after all, is already a politician and, in most cases, already being paid to do politics.

Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale, one of the few to vote “present,” said on the Senate floor that he could remember when the primaries were held in July and that “this thing keeps moving backwards and backwards.”

Johnson didn’t mention it, but Canada just kicked off a national election campaign that will last five weeks. They do things somewhat differently up there, but still, if Canada can select its prime minister and Parliament in five weeks, does Arkansas need a year?

The change in the primary election dates also will change the legislative calendar. The even-numbered-year fiscal sessions now will begin the second Wednesday in April after the primary elections rather than the second Monday of January. 

That means some members of the General Assembly will be “lame-duck” legislators who are either term-limited, voluntarily leaving or, in relatively rare cases, fresh off of being rejected by the voters. There is an upside: The weather is better in April than it is in January. 

Which brings me to the final issue with moving up the primary election dates. You never know what kind of weather Arkansas will have in early March and the weeks leading up to it. May, in contrast, is generally nice. 

That may be one reason, and I’m sure there are others, why turnout was higher in the last May primary in 2022 (25.98%) than it was in March 2024, when only 20.64% of the state’s registered voters voted.

Regarding Act 405, I would have been the lone “no” vote, but I don’t have a seat in the Legislature. 

That privilege goes to those willing to put their names on the ballot – no matter how long in advance it’s required.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 18 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.