'I Voted' stickers for early voters Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, at the Benton County Election Commission office in Rogers. ( Ben Goff

The 2020 election cycle officially kicks off today with the opening of a weeklong candidate filing period.

Arkansans will have the opportunity to pick candidates for president, Congress, state offices, the Legislature and county offices. Voters also will elect judges at the state, circuit and district levels.

Filing Filing begins at noon Monday for races in which there is a party primary, such as state legislative races and county races. The filing for judicial offices, which are nonpartisan, begins three hours later. The first day of filing is the first Monday in November and would normally end one week later. This year, however, the end of filing would fall on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Offices are closed, so filing will continue until noon Tuesday, Nov. 12. The judicial filing deadline will close three hours later. Early voting will begin Feb. 17. Deadline to apply to register to vote is Feb. 3. Primary election day and judicial election day is March 3 in presidential election years.

Northwest Arkansas has two new circuit judge positions to fill and plenty of candidates running for the Legislature.

As it did four years ago, Arkansas is holding its candidate filing several months early so the primaries can be held March 3, along with 13 other states participating in the "Super Tuesday" presidential primaries. The general election is Nov. 3, 2020.

In nonpresidential election years, Arkansas holds its primaries in May, with a filing period in late February.

Primary election day is March 3. A runoff for party primaries, if needed, will take place March 31.

Nonpartisan judicial races are held March 3 with runoffs on general election day -- Nov. 3. Runoff elections are automatic for races in which no one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote.

Republicans control a super-majority in each chamber of the state Legislature, with 75 seats to the Democrats' 22 seats in the House (three seats are vacant), and 26 seats to nine in the Senate.

The GOP also controls all four U.S. House districts, as well as both U.S. Senate seats. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Dardanelle, is up for re-election for a six-year term in 2020.

Those incumbencies have helped the party during the earlier filing period, said Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Doyle Webb. The Democrats, meanwhile, have had less time since the last filing period to find challengers for a large number of seats.

"Early filing period always makes it harder for candidate recruitment," said Democratic Party of Arkansas Chairman Michael John Gray. "People feel like they just came out of an election."

Janine Parry, a professor of political science at the University of Arkansas, said national politics and attitudes toward President Donald Trump were likely having "coat-tail effects" in drawing out local candidates in Arkansas, especially for Democrats who have suffered repeated electoral losses since control of state government flipped to the Republicans in 2012.

If they can keep recruitment up, that's a sign there's some life in the Democratic Party, Parry said.

"They may, because the national volume is turned up so high," she said.

NATIONAL RACES

Presidential hopefuls also are expected to officially put their names in the running for Arkansas' primaries.

Arkansas' presidential primary will be with states with larger delegate totals, such as California, Texas and North Carolina, on March 3.

That could make participation in Arkansas' primary a "barometer" for the seriousness of some campaigns, according to Andrew Dowdle, a University of Arkansas political science professor who studies the presidential nomination process.

"If you're a somewhat serious candidate, you'd be able to spend $2,500 to get on the ballot," Dowdle said, referring to the presidential filing fee for Democrats.

The $25,000 filing fee for Republican presidential candidates is more likely to be a barrier to filing, Dowdle said.

All four members of Arkansas' all-Republican congressional delegation are expected to file for re-election, as is Cotton.

Democrats have announced candidates in the 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts -- held by U.S. Reps. Steve Womack of Rogers and Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs, respectively -- and for U.S. Senate, where Democrat Josh Mahony of Fayetteville hopes to challenge Cotton, who is from Dardanelle. Benton County Democratic chairwoman Celeste Williams is running in the 3rd District. She has no announced Democratic primary opposition. Two Democratic candidates have announced for the 4th District. They are William Hanson of Hot Springs and Raymond Dallas Redmond Jr. of Rison.

It's in central Arkansas' 2nd Congressional District, held by three-term incumbent Hill, that Democrats see their best chance of flipping a seat. Hill won re-election by six points last year against Democrat Clarke Tucker.

Democrats had yet to announce a candidate heading into the final weekend before filing, but party officials are meeting with potential candidates, according to spokesman Jacob Kauffman.

Democrats have yet to find anyone to run in eastern Arkansas' 1st Congressional District, Gray said, and are not expecting to contest the seat held by U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford of Jonesboro.

NWA LEGISLATIVE

At least two GOP primaries for state representative have three candidates who have announced intentions to file. The new circuit judgeship in Washington county has five; the new judgeship in Benton County has two so far.

On the Democratic side, the party hopes to build on gains from 2018 when two Democratic challengers in the region toppled their incumbent Republican opponents.

Republicans, meanwhile, hope to gain back lost ground there.

"During the last legislative session, Northwest Arkansas Democrat legislators voted against the values of their communities on issues relating to abortion, Second Amendment rights and limited government," Webb said Friday.

"As a result, our Republican Party has been approached by some highly respected citizens of Northwest Arkansas who are determined to return conservative values in representing their districts. For example, we are excited to support Jed Duggar in State House District 89, among others who are considering running or have not yet announced."

District 89 was won in 2018 by political newcomer Rep. Megan Godfrey, D-Springdale. Duggar had not yet announced, but confirmed Friday he expects to file.

"Community leaders, business owners, nurses, educators and homemakers are stepping up to serve their communities," Kauffman said. "These candidates aren't ideologues or interested in partisanship and bickering. They're driven by a calling to serve, to improve the lives of families and to make their communities a place to call home."

Gray agreed Friday.

"Some of the best opportunities for Arkansans to improve representation in Little Rock comes from a host of dynamic candidates in Northwest Arkansas," the statement says.

In legislative races, Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, decided against running for re-election. That race in House District 91 has drawn three GOP rivals and one Democratic candidate to announce so far.

GOP incumbent Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers, faces two announced challengers in the Republican primary for the District 90 seat. A Democrat has also announced plans to run.

In all, Benton and Washington counties have of 16 House districts in which some portion is in one of the two counties. All house seats come up for election every two years.

No competing primary contestants have announced so far in the three state Senate seats in Benton and Washington counties up for election in 2020.

Four members of the 16-member Northwest Arkansas House delegation are Democrats. One of the region's five senators is. The rest of the legislative delegation is Republican.

JUDICIAL RACES

The Legislature approved a bill earlier this year that added circuit judge positions to some areas in the state. The 19th Judicial District West, which consists of Benton County, and the 4th Judicial District, which includes Madison and Washington counties, each received an additional judge.

The new judges will give Benton County a total of seven in 2021, while the 4th Judicial District will have eight beginning in 2021.

Case filings have increased in Benton County from 10,752 in 2011 to 11,785 in 2017, according to annual reports compiled by the state Administrative Office of the Courts. In Washington County, case filings went from 13,225 in 2011 to 14,606 in 2017, the reports show.

The highest judicial office on the ballot will be Position 4 on the Arkansas Supreme Court, now held by Justice Josephine "Jo"Hart. Hart, when reached by telephone at her home Friday, said she had yet to decide whether she would retire or run for reelection.

If Hart were to serve past her current term, she would be forced to forfeit her retirement benefits under a state law aimed at pushing older judges to step down.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Morgan "Chip" Welch is the only candidate to announce plans to run for Position 4.

Four spots on the 12-member Arkansas Court of Appeals are up for election in 2020.

Court of Appeals incumbents Mike Murphy (District 2, Position 2) is seeking re-election. District 2 includes Boone and Newton counties.

Court of Appeals Judge Brandon Harrison (District 4, Position 1), did not return a phone call Friday on whether he planned to run for re-election. District 4 includes Sebastian, Logan, Scott counties.

In the Court of Appeal's District 4, Position 2, spot, Texarkana prosecutor Stephanie Potter Barrett and Hot Springs District Judge Emily White both submitted petitions early to run for the seat held by Judge Meredith Switzer, who is ineligible to run again after being appointed early this year to fill the vacancy left by the death of Court of Appeals Judge David "Mac" Glover.

In addition, James McMenis has filed early to run against Klappenbach, in a rematch of the 2018 runoff for the judicial seat.

QUORUM COURTS

In Washington County, all 15 seats on the Quorum Court are up for election for the two-year terms for that office. County-wide elected officials are elected every four years and face no election this year.

One incumbent, Democrat Sue Madison in District 12, has announced she will not run for another term on the Quorum Court. Candy Clark, who held the same seat from 2009 to 2014, has said she will run for the position as a Democrat. District 12 includes much of downtown Fayetteville and the southeastern part of the city.

Beth Coger has announced plans to run as a Democrat for the District 6 seat on the Quorum Court. That seat is held by Republican Lisa Ecke. District 6 includes the northeastern corner of Fayetteville and the southeastern corner of Springdale.

All 15 justices of the peace in Benton County are Republican and all seats are up for election.

Four justices of the peace have said they won't seek re-election. Two others appointed by the governor earlier this year can't run for their seats.

Joshua Bryant in District 2, Pat Adams in District 6, Shirley Sandlin in District 8 and Michelle Chiocco in District 10 will not run again for a variety of reasons, they said.

Jerry Snow of Bella Vista in District 7 and James Furgason of Gentry in District 12 aren't eligible to run for re-election because they were appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson earlier this year, according to the Clerk's Office.

Congressional candidate Williams, the Benton County chairwoman, has said the vacancies are a chance to make inroads on the court. The party will work hard to fill down-ballot spots, she said.

"It's a huge opportunity," she said. "The key is to have quality candidates who can speak to county issues."

Scott Brownell, chairman of the Benton County Republican Party, said a game plan is in place for Republicans to hold those seats. The party will field candidates for all the open positions, he said.

Two Republicans have announced for Snow's seat: Doug Farner and Joseph Bollinger, both from Bella Vista.

Doug Thompson can be reached by email at dthompson@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWADoug. John Moritz can be reached by email at jmoritz@arkansasonline.com or on Twitter @JohnMoritz18.

Up for election

NW News on 11/03/2019