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THE SALINE
INDEX
OBITUARIES ............................3A
EDITORIAL ...............................4A
SPORTS ............................. 5A,6A
CLASSIFIEDS .................. 9A,10A
COMICS .................................11A
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SALINE COUNTYS NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1876
WEDNESDAY
May 21, 2014
Volume 137
Number 142
2 Sections 20 Pages
50
Home of Buster Warrick
and Richard Christian
Too Close To Call
47 votes separate Haynes, Wright in race
Republican candidates
Rodney Wright and Simon
Haynes will face off in a June 10
runoff election that will deter-
mine the Republican Partys
nominee in the November gen-
eral election.
In Tuesdays preferential pri-
mary election, Haynes led the
seven-candidate race by drawing
4,321 votes, followed by Wright
with 4,274 votes. The two were
separated by only 47 votes.
After the tallies were in, both
candidates said they are looking
forward to a clean campaign in
the runoff.
The candidate who wins
June 10 will be challenged in
November by Rodney Goshien,
the Democratic Partys nominee
Vote totals for the other can-
didates in the race were: Kevin
Cooper with 1,563 votes; Daniel
Dodson with 1,110 votes; E.J.
Harris with 1,315 votes; Tim
Dudderar with 1,471 votes;
and Bruce Pennington with439
votes.
Pennington, a former sheriff
who retired under pressure,
had announced on May 1 that
he was withdrawing from the
race, but his name was already
printed on the ballot. He never
notified the Saline County
Clerks Office of his decision to
withdraw, so his votes had to be
counted.
Even if Pennington had offi-
cially notified the clerks office
of his withdrawal, the ballots
could not be reprinted at that
juncture.
LYNDA HOLLENBECK/The Saline Courier
Simon Haynes, who led the ticket Tuesday in the Republican Partys preferential pri-
mary election race for sheriff, and Jackie Sasfai check on vote tallies midway during
the tabulation process Tuesday night in County Clerk Doug Curtis office. Haynes
and candidate Rodney Wright will face off in a runoff election on June 10. The win-
ner of the race will be challenged by Democratic nominee Rodney Goshien in the
November general election.
Rodney
Wright and
his wife,
Kayce, pose
for a picture
at a watch
party at his
parents
home. A
large group
of family
and support-
ers gathered
at the home,
grilled food
and watched
as the
votes were
counted.
SARAH PERRY/
The Saline Courier
BRENT DAVIS/The Saline Courier
Jeff Arey arrives at his watch party at Luigis
in Bryant moments after the early vote totals
were announced.
Arey defeats
Murphy by
wide margin
for GOP slot
When early voting numbers were
released shortly after the polls closed on
Tuesday, Haskell Mayor Jeff Arey had a
comfortable lead in the county judges race
in the Republican Partys primary election.
And when the final tallies were in, Arey
had soundly defeated Benton Alderman
Kerry Murphy in the contest to become
their partys nominee.
Upon seeing the numbers, Arey said he
felt good about the lead, but would wait
until all the votes were counted before
deciding if he could relax.
A little more than two hours later, Arey
had won the Republican nomination with a
final margin of 62.5 percent of the vote to
37.5 percent for Murphy.
It would have been very difficult to
By Sarah Perry
sderouen@bentoncourier.com
By Brent Davis
bdavis@bentoncourier.com
Sample takes office 2nd time around
After an unsuccessful
bid for Saline County
Circuit Clerk in 2012,
Myka Bono-Sample
found victory the sec-
ond time around. On
Tuesday she defeated
Patrick Rhodes in the
race to determine the
Republican Partys nom-
ination for the office.
Without opposition
from the Democratic
Party, Sample will
become the new circuit
clerk and will be sworn
into office in January
2015.
Despite a small
margin of votes in her
favor when early vote
totals were announced,
Sample did not feel
confident of an eventual
victory. However, when
all the precincts were
counted and the final
tallies were announced,
Sample had won the
contest by drawing 53.5
percent of the vote total,
compared to 46.5 per-
cent for Rhodes.
Sample expressed
her appreciation for the
support she received
during the campaign.
I would like to say
thank you to everyone
who voted for me, she
said. I could not have
done this without the
support of my family
and friends.
BRENT DAVIS/The Saline County
Myka Bono-Sample, left, and husband Billy Joe step
outside her watch party at the Ice House Grill in
Benton following her win for circuit clerk.
Bond issues
fail in Bryant
Bryant voters rejected both parts of a bond
issue included on the preferential primary election
ballot Tuesday.
This issue involved four questions that asked
voters to extend a current bond. The money would
then be used to fund street improvements with a
focus on Boone Road and park improvements.
Im glad the voters had the opportunity to voice
their opinion on these street and park issues, said
Mayor Jill Dabbs. We must be responsive to this
vote,
re-evaluate the citizens wishes and make a bet-
ter plan moving forward in which they can fully
support.
Approximately 56 percent of people voted
against question 1, which involved refunding the
Ballard, Ramsey set for runoff June 10
With the tallies completed in
the Republican Partys preferen-
tial primary election Tuesday,
no candidate for Saline County
assessor had attained the more
than 50 percent of votes neces-
sary to become the partys nomi-
nee.
A runoff election will be held
June 10 between Gary Ballard
and Bob Ramsey.
Ballard led the race, receiv-
ing 4,746 votes or 35.12 percent
of the total. Ramsey drew 4,259
votes or 30.62 percent of the
total.
Two other candidates were
listed on the ballot: Donna
Huddleston and Lisa Dodson.
Huddleston received 2,808 votes
or 20.19 percent of the total vote
and Dodson received 2,098 votes
or 15.08 percent of the total vote.
Dodson had announced in
April that she was dropping out
of the race. In a statement, she
Bob Ramsey
and his fam-
ily and friends
filled a work-
shop for a
large watch
party Tuesday.
Ramsey will
be in a run-
off June 10
with fellow
Republican
Gary Ballard for
Saline County
Assessor.
BRENT DAVIS/
The Saline Courier
SALINE COUNTY
SHERIFF
Simon Haynes (R) 4.321
Rodney Wright (R) 4,274
(Runoff set for June 10)
COUNTY JUDGE
Jeff Arey (R) 8,810
Kerry Murphy (R) 5,282
ASSESSOR
Gary Ballard (R) 4,746
Bob Ramsey (R) 4,259
(Runoff set for June 10)
CIRCUIT CLERK
Myka Sample (R) 7,323
Patrick Rhodes (R) 6,365
JP DIST. 10
Jim Whitley (R) 599
Michael Shipp (R) 485
CONSTABLE 2
Bobby Hahn (R) 3,364
Burt Prickett (R) 1,682
BRYANT ISSUE 1
Against 1,375
For 1,087
BRYANT ISSUE 2
Against 1,486
For 916
BRYANT ISSUE 3
Against 1,250
For 1,178
BRYANT ISSUE 4
Against 1,341
For 1,118
BAUXITE ISSUE 1
Against 53
For 47
STATE-WIDE RACES
GOVERNOR (D)
Mike Ross 128,907
Lynette Bryant 24,683
GOVERNOR (R)
Asa Hutchinson 128,479
Curtis Coleman 47,494
STATE TREASURER
Dennis Milligan (R) 85,530
Duncan Baird (R) 74,206
U.S. HOUSE DIST. 2
French Hill (R) 29,884
Ann Clemmer (R) 12,383
By Sarah Perry
sderouen@bentoncourier.com
BRYANT, page 7A
By Brent Davis
bdavis@bentoncourier.com
SAMPLE, page 7A
AREY, page 7A
By Bobbye Pyke
bpyke@bentoncourier.com
ASSESSOR, page 7A
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
The Saline Courier 7A
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