By STEVE BRAWNER
Let’s meet the Republicans seeking to be Arkansas’ next secretary of state: Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton; Miller County Judge Cathy Hardin Harrison; and Bryan Norris.
The office administers elections, maintains the Capitol, and administers business filings. Current Secretary of State Cole Jester was appointed by Gov. Sarah Sanders and is therefore ineligible to run. The primary elections are March 3.
Hammer said his 16 years of legislative experience have given him a knowledge of election laws, the Capitol and the business sector.
“I think I’ve built a reputation of being a person of integrity, person that can be approached, a person that’s willing to listen, but also a person who, when you’ve got to do the tough job, I can do the tough job,” he said.
He is a minister and has been a hospital hospice chaplain. He owns a sign and embroidery business and founded a faith-based daycare center. He is a married father of three and a grandfather.
Harrison pointed to her practical experience as a county judge and tax collector in Miller County, home of Texarkana.
She took over as county judge in 2019 when the county was losing money. She reduced the county budget by contracting out juvenile detention center services, ending cable television subscriptions in county offices, and taking other steps. Meanwhile, she increased employee salaries.
She provided police security at voting centers and installed cameras and grant-funded metal detectors at the courthouse. When the pipes burst in 2020, she said she took charge and quickly relocated the offices. She is a married mother of three and a grandmother.
“I’m running on my history as a two-term county judge and a two-term tax collector here in Miller County, and 28-plus years of working for the county between the county and state,” she said. “I personally feel like I’m most qualified for the job because it’s something that I do every day.”
Norris joined the Army after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and spent the next 21 years in the service, including multiple combat deployments in Afghanistan and multiple deployments elsewhere in that part of the world.
He retired five years ago as a first sergeant. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees over time and now manages global projects for a Fortune 500 company. He is married with three daughters ages 13, 12 and 11.
“I want to be the most transparent secretary of state in the history of this state,” he said. “And one of the things I want to do first and foremost is remove the door to my office so that everything that happens inside my office can be heard by everyone in the main office space or in the lobby, anyone that’s standing around there.”
Hammer noted that the conservative Heritage Foundation ranked Arkansas tied for first for election integrity, and he helped pass legislation contributing to the ranking.
He also sponsored laws in 2025 that changed the process for citizens collecting signatures for proposed constitutional amendments and initiated acts. As examples, one law would require signers to provide an identification. Another would require canvassers to attest the signer has read the proposal. A judge has temporarily blocked those and other laws, but Hammer is confident the state will win the case.
He said it’s too easy for outside groups to amend the Constitution, and that canvassers have misled citizens.
Norris opposes the laws, saying the initiative process is a foundational element in Arkansas’ Constitution. Harrison said she opposes some of the laws, saying they would make it hard for citizens to qualify proposals for the ballot.
Harrison said education is the key to improving the state’s election processes and increasing voter turnout. She holds town hall meetings in Miller County and said she would be wiling to do so in every county as secretary of state. She said she has found that the more that people in her county are educated, the easier her job is.
Hammer said the office should stress voting’s importance. He plans to work with county clerks to recruit and train volunteers.
Norris supports paper ballots, believing voting machines aren’t proven to be secure and contain Chinese-made components and unknown source code. However, he believes counties should be able to choose the system they use. Wherever ballots are located, a video camera should be recording with the data centrally stored in the secretary of state’s office. He believes the secretary of state should conduct audits of primary elections.
Hammer supports keeping the machines, saying they are not connected to the internet and that no one can identify any Arkansas elections stolen by using them. Harrison also would keep the machines.
Hammer wants to improve accessibility at the Capitol and make campaign finance reports easier to find on the website.
Harrison said she has obtained millions of grant dollars to restore the Miller County courthouse and would work to ensure the Capitol is secure and maintained.
Norris said the Capitol should be a destination point. He said it’s not accessible enough for wheelchair-bound residents, and he wants to remove reserved Capitol parking and open the spaces to average Arkansans. He also wants to prevent lobbyists from sitting in the first row at committee meetings.
Those are the Republican candidates for secretary of state. The winner faces Democrat Kelly Grappe in November.
Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 21 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.
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