Affordability, healthcare, accountability center of heated race for central Arkansas US House seat

Running for a seventh term, Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill is focusing on what he’s done for his central Arkansas district in the past 12 years.

But his Democratic opponent, Chris Jones, is emphasizing what Hill hasn’t done and what Jones would do for the district if he wins in November.

One thing Jones would do is ensure he is available to the public as much as possible, even from Washington D.C., he told potential constituents at a Conway sandwich shop in September.

“It is not French Hill’s seat — it’s your seat, and every two years you get to choose who you want to be in that seat,” Jones said.

In a September interview, Hill said his decades of business and banking experience make him more than qualified to keep his seat.

“I’ve tried to take all those economic lessons and management lessons and deliver for the people in central Arkansas on concrete, practical things to help make this a better place,” Hill said.

Jones said it’s time for someone new to represent the 2nd Congressional District, comprising all or part of eight counties, including part of Little Rock, where Jones and Hill both live.

If he wins, Jones would be Arkansas’ first Black member of Congress. He has never held elected office, and his first foray into politics was his 2022 run for governor, which he lost to Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Democrats face long odds in a state where Republicans have held every statewide and federal office since 2014, the year Hill first won his seat.

A 2021 redistricting plan approved by the majority-Republican Legislature moved some Pulaski County voters into other districts and made the 2nd District more favorable to the GOP. Hill won his sixth term in 2024 with 59% of the vote.

Even before redistricting, Democrats’ nationally watched efforts to unseat Hill, including by state Sen. Clarke Tucker in 2018 and former state Sen. Joyce Elliott in 2020, were unsuccessful.

But in August, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the 2nd District to its list of GOP seats it aims to flip, and on Monday it added the race to its “Red to Blue” program, a targeted fundraising effort for races deemed competitive.

An August Talk Business & Politics poll indicated Jones had a slim lead over Hill within the margin of error. Political forecaster Larry Sabato earlier this year moved the race from “safe Republican” to “likely Republican,” while the Cook Political Report classifies it as “solid Republican.”

Jones has drawn attention from national Democratic figures: former Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed him, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg headlined a Jones rally in Little Rock. Former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts spoke at Jones’ Sept. 17 event, and a political action committee started by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has placed TV ad buys supporting Jones’ bid. 

Hill’s campaign has outraised and outspent Jones, and the GOP lawmaker has also drawn support from top Republicans. Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, is scheduled to headline a rally for Hill in Benton later this month.

Two cryptocurrency-focused super PACs have thrown their support behind Hill. Defend American Jobs spent heavily earlier this year supporting Hill during the GOP primary, which he won with 76% of the vote over challenger Chase McDowell.

The Associated Press reported that Fairshake will direct $1 million each to three incumbent Republicans, including Hill, and three Democrats.

DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said Monday that Republican super PACs spending millions of dollars in safe GOP districts is a sign that voters are moving toward Democratic candidates.

Affordability

Jones’ concerns about affordability in Arkansas include the looming cuts to low-income people’s health insurance and nutrition assistance under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed last year and Hill supported.

The law is expected to cut rural Medicaid spending by $15.5 billion per year over the next decade. More than 800,000 low-income or disabled Arkansans rely on Medicaid.

Arkansas’ Medicaid expansion faces an uncertain future after the Trump administration rejected its renewal in July. Jones said members of Congress should work with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to meet Arkansas’ healthcare needs. Hill agreed that part of his job is to be a liaison to federal agencies.

Low reimbursement rates force Arkansas hospitals to scale back services

Both Jones and Hill expressed frustration that Arkansas hospitals have been cutting services due to low reimbursement rates from Medicaid and from private insurers. Specifically in the 2nd District, Jacksonville’s Unity Health closed its emergency room in April.

Jones noted that low-income people tend to use emergency rooms as primary care providers in the absence of a robust hospital system, and he said elected officials should be at least partly responsible for plans to replace health services that get cut.

Hill said Arkansas’ low reimbursement rates are “repugnant” and require a joint effort between state and federal officials to address the issue.

“It systematically discriminates against health providers in the state, and then by virtue of that, has an impact on patients,” Hill said.

On other affordability matters, Hill has touted his votes for reestablishing the federal child tax credit and for eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay.

Hill also sponsored the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan bill that became law in July without President Donald Trump’s signature, removing some of the regulations on housing manufacturing and bank loans for homebuyers.

The policy changes are meant to bolster housing supply and increase investment in housing by banks, which will help reduce the Little Rock Housing Authority’s waitlist for public and affordable housing units, Hill said in March. The waitlist exceeded 5,000 at the time, and the agency oversees 1,100 housing units.

The House Financial Services Committee, which Hill chairs, met in Little Rock in March to discuss the housing legislation and the Little Rock Housing Authority’s history of financial and management issues. Hill said in September that holding the agency accountable is a point of pride in his sixth term.

Jones said the ROAD to Housing Act is a step in the right direction. Further steps would be to increase access not just to mortgages but to homeownership itself by ensuring Arkansans can afford necessities like food and healthcare, he said.

Accountability

Jones has criticized Hill for not voting to end the war in Iran that Trump started in February. He said central Arkansans regularly tell him how frustrated they are about the conflict, which has cost the federal government billions of dollars per week and raised the cost of gasoline.

“Military families, veterans, current service members — they’re watching a war that Congress has never voted on, and they’re watching French Hill abdicate his congressional duty and responsibility,” said Jones, whose wife is an Air Force veteran.

Hill clarified that he has specifically voted “against poorly drafted amendments that are sloppy [and] encourage all American forces to be withdrawn from the Middle East.”

“I do think the conduct of how we eliminate that Iranian nuclear and military threat could have been done more with an allied approach,” Hill said.

Hill’s voting record has almost always aligned with Trump’s priorities. Jones and other Democrats have made an effort to associate incumbent Republicans with Trump, whose approval rating in Arkansas and nationwide has been declining.

Hill has split with Trump on some issues, including opposing the president’s plan to allow more beef imports into the U.S. 

Democrats see rare signs of hope in solidly red Arkansas’ midterms

Arkansas Republicans have been less inclined to tie themselves to Trump than to tie their opponents to Harris and other prominent Democrats.

The Republican Party of Arkansas announced Wednesday that it would file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Jones for not filing a required financial disclosure report by the Aug. 13 deadline.

“Chris Jones’ refusal to disclose his personal finances begs the question: what does he have to hide?” state GOP Chairman Joseph Wood said in a news release.

In an interview, Jones called the state GOP’s complaint and statement against him a “very unfortunate” effort to “play on people’s fear.” He said he was dealing with a personal tragedy in August and plans to pay the $200 fine to the FEC for missing the filing deadline.

Jones also said 2nd District residents have expressed “frustrations and hope” in his months campaigning for their support.

“They’re frustrated with where things are, but [they have] a real hopefulness about where things can be,” Jones said.