4 candidates seek to fill Arkansas state Senate seat vacancy

Four Arkansans filed by Thursday’s deadline to run in the Jan. 5 special election to fill the Senate District 18 vacancy, according to the secretary of state’s office. 

Independent candidates Steven McClelland and Trevor McGarragh, Democrat Camille Feyen and Republican Will Moore are seeking to replace Republican Jonathan Dismang, who resigned from the Senate earlier this month to take a job at Arkansas Electric Cooperatives. 

Sen. Jonathan Dismang, an architect of Arkansas’ Medicaid expansion, stepping down

Moore, Searcy’s city attorney, has been endorsed by Dismang and several other top Republicans, including Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Dismang’s successor will serve the remainder of his term as the representative of Senate District 18, which includes White County and parts of Faulkner and Cleburne counties. Dismang, the former co-chairman of the Joint Budget Committee, was last elected in 2024 to a four-year term that ends in January 2029. 

The vacancy leaves Republicans with a 27-6 majority in the Senate.

Dismang’s seat will be the sixth legislative vacancy to be filled over the last year. Republican Sen. Brad Simon and Democratic Rep. Alex Holladay won special elections in March to represent Senate District 26 and House District 70, respectively. 

Republican Bill Teeter won the House District 44 special election in August to replace the late Republican Rep. Stan Berry.  

Eudora Mayor Tomeka Butler, a Democrat, and Rison Republican Harrell Wilson are vying for the Senate District 1 seat in a special election that coincides with November’s general election. The winner will replace former Republican Sen. Ben Gilmore who resigned in June to work for Attorney General Tim Griffin.  

Republican Kara Armas of Pea Ridge and Democrat Parker Stohlton of Bella Vista are facing each other to represent House District 8 in a separate special election that’s also scheduled during November’s midterms. 

The seat became vacant when former Republican Rep. Austin McCollum resigned in August following domestic violence charges. His resignation left Republicans with a 79-20 majority in the House.