Waltons Give Another $60,000 To Wet Benton County Effort

Tom and Steuart Walton in April contributed another $30,000 each to Keep Dollars in Benton County, according to a financial report filed Tuesday with the Arkansas Ethics Commission.

The group is pushing for “wet” liquor laws in Benton County.

The two Waltons gave $30,000 each to the group on April 9, the report shows. The monthly report showing contributions from April was due to the Ethics Commission 15 days after the end of the month.

The April amounts bring the total contributed from the two Walton heirs to $140,000 each, the report shows. They are by far the largest contributors to the group.

Other contributions in April include $20,000 each from E-Z Mart Stores of Texarkana, Texas, and Kum and Go of West Des Moines, Iowa.

Keep Dollars In Benton County is attempting to gather 40,000 certified signatures by August to get the wet/dry question on the Nov. 6 ballot. The group said in a news release last week it had 35,000 signatures. An effort on Saturday to collect more signatures netted another 800, organizers said.

The group has paid $86,230 to Georgia-based National Ballot Access to spearhead the signature-gathering effort.