ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) — Two Republicans and five Democrats are vying to be Arkansas’ next governor.
Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders was in Springdale Thursday for the Washington County GOP Rockefeller-Huckabee Lecture Series.
“We want to tackle making Arkansas the best place to live, work and raise a family and we’re gonna get to work and roll our sleeves up very quickly to make that happen,” Sanders said.
Sanders said she’s focused on lowering taxes for Arkansans.
“I’d like to see us phase out the state income tax where we’re actually giving every Arkansan a pay raise instead of a pay cut at the hands of the government,” Sanders said.
Sanders said to make up for that loss of revenue from the income tax, she would work to grow Arkansas’ economy by making it more efficient. Sanders said nationalizing the governor’s race will benefit Arkansans.
“I think it is incredibly important to pay attention to the mandates that are being pushed down from the federal government, making sure we have the ability to stop some of the bad policies from ruining good policies in our state,” Sanders said.
Sanders is up against podcaster Francis ‘Doc’ Washburn in the Republican primary.
“I want to drastically cut the size and scope of our state government to get them off our backs and out of our wallets,” Washburn.
Washburn said he wants to give back some of the state’s surplus to Arkansans.
“I’ll take a third of that and keep it for a rainy day fund, give a third back to the taxpayers and use the other three into a forensic audit of our state government to cut as much as we possibly can,” Washburn said.
Chris Jones is one of five Democratic candidates vying for the job.
“I’m a seventh generation Arkansan and that’s what it’s going to take to get Arkansas where it needs to be,” Jones said.
Jones said he’s focused on pre-school, broadband and jobs for Arkansas.
“Every family’s high quality education started with pre-k needs great infrastructure, starting with broadband and needs economic development, starting with jobs,” Jones said.
Jones said bringing broadband to the entire state is critical for many sectors.
“You can’t access the broader world from economic development, small businesses don’t have the market, you can’t access the broader world for education,” Jones said. “Kids don’t have access to the tools they need, and even things like telehealth and talking to your grandkids, broadband is a critical aspect of Arkansas.”
Democrat Jay Martin told KNWA/FOX 24 that if he’s governor he wants to address the state’s growing violence and increase pay for first responders and teachers.
“We have to make sure that our police and our fire, our teachers can go to work for minimum wage at some places,” Martin said.
Martin said he wants to bring the state together as governor.
“We don’t want more of Washington in Arkansas, so we just want to focus on local issues, the issues facing cities and counties,” Martin said.
Democrat Anthony Bland was unavailable to talk to KNWA/FOX 24 on Thursday, but he pointed people to his website to learn about his priorities. KNWA/FOX 24 was not able to get ahold of Democrats James Russell and Supha Xayprasith-Mays. Libertarian Ricky Dale Harrington, Jr. is also running for governor. Write-in candidates for governor include Dan Nelson, Jason Tate, Michael Woodard, and Elvis Presley.
