LITTLE ROCK A handful of hotly contested legislative primaries will drive turnout in Tuesday's election, with no major statewide or congressional races grabbing voters' attention, party leaders say.
Secretary of State Charlie Daniels said he expects about 19 or 20 percent of the state's roughly 1.6 million voters to show up at the polls for Tuesday's preferential primaries and nonpartisan judicial elections.
"It just depends on the counties, especially without the presidential race or any constitutional officers up this year," Daniels said. "I think you'll see not a great turnout, but it'll just depend on which county you're looking at."
The state's presidential primary, which was held Feb. 5, featured a 35 percent voter turnout.
Democrats, who hold a strong majority in the Legislature already, head into the primary assured of keeping a majority of the 100 seats in the House. Fourteen of 18 Senate seats up for election this year will go to candidates unopposed in either a primary or the November general election, unless a write-in or Green Party candidate is successful.
Of the 118 legislative seats up this year, 78 are uncontested, which may dampen enthusiasm and turnout for Tuesday's election. Also, none of Arkansas" four sitting congressmen drew a major party opponent when the filing period closed in March.
U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., whose re-election bid had been viewed as the top race this year, didn't draw any opposition for the primary or the November general election. Fort Smith attorney Rebekah Kennedy will run against Pryor as the Green Party nominee.
State Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney said the large number of uncontested races shows the impact that the state's term limits are having on statewide politics.
Gwatney said the number one race in his party Tuesday is the primary battle between Sen. Irma Hunter Brown, D-Little Rock, and former state Rep. Joyce Elliott.
Brown has said she is seeking another term in the Senate because she's proven herself as a hard worker and touts her work as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on City, County and Local Affairs. Elliott, director of state and legislative outreach for The College Board, has accused Brown of being unresponsive to the needs of her district.
The winner of that race for Senate District 33 won't face a Republican opponent in the fall.
Another high-profile primary is the race between Rep. Scott Sullivan, D-DeQueen, and former state Rep. Larry Teague for the District 17 seat being vacated by term-limited Sen. Jim Hill, D-Nashville. The winner of the Democratic primary for that seat also won't face a Republican in the fall.
Arkansas Republican Party Chairman Dennis Milligan said he expects heavy turnout in the conservative stronghold of northwest Arkansas and in Saline County. House District 29, which includes Saline County, will feature primary contests on both sides.
Scott Smith, a senior managing partner of SKB Partners in Bryant and Mike Beckwith, a Benton business owner, are competing for the Democratic nomination in the district. The Republican contest features University of Arkansas at Little Rock Political Scientist Ann Clemmer, Acxiom Corp. Analyst J. Brett Hooton and former Bryant City Council member Bud Lidzy.
"I'm optimistic about (turnout), but I'm so closely attached that it may be that I'm just fooling myself," said Milligan, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2002 and 2004.
The seat is currently held by Rep. Janet Johnson, D-Bryant, who is term limited.
Sen. Jim Luker, D-Wynne, also faces a fight in the Democratic primary from Rep. Denny Sumpter, D-West Memphis.
State House District 99, which includes Benton County, features a Republican primary fight between Vickey Boozman, the widow of former state Health Director Fay Boozman, and Tim Summers, who sits on the county's quorum court. Rep. Horace Hardwick, R-Bentonville, who holds the seat, cannot run again because of term limits.
The ballot will feature plenty of familiar names. Vickie Critcher, the wife of term limited Senate President Jack Critcher, D-Batesville, faces James McLean in the Democratic primary for the House District 72 seat. And Linda Bisbee, wife of outgoing Sen. Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers, is running against Duncan Baird in the Republican primary for House District 95.
Former state Rep. Randy Minton of Ward is running against Cabot lawyer Davy Carter in the Republican primary for House District 48, a race that has drawn the involvement of former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Huckabee is supporting Carter in the race against Minton. who campaigned against the former Ark. governor during his unsuccessful run for the Republican presidential nomination.
In Jefferson County, Pine Bluff Democrats Donald Warren Sr., James L. Word and Delton Wright are running in the primary for the District 16 House seat. They are running to succeed Rep. Earnest Brown, D-Pine Bluff, who is seeking a circuit judgeship.
Daniels said that, as of late last week, about 4 percent of the state's registered voters had already voted or requested an absentee ballot for Tuesday's election. About 45,000 had cast a ballot through early voting and another 11,000 requested absentee ballots, the secretary of state's office said Friday.
