Former state Sen. Kim Hendren, a Gravette Republican, is set to announce on Tuesday (Aug. 27) that he is running for the state House District 92 seat.
Hendren will make the formal announcement at 7 p.m. at the Benton County Republican Committee meeting in the VFW hall in Siloam Springs.
In a story first posted by 5NEWS on July 16, Hendren, whose son, Jim, is serving in the state Senate, said he was considering running for the state House District 92 seat in the 2014 election. The primary election is in May.
The state representative in that Benton County district, Mary Lou Slinkard, a Republican living in Gravette, is term-limited and cannot seek re-election.
(Kim Hendren and his son, Jim, standing, are seen in this photo from Kim Hendren’s Facebook page.)
Before term-limiting out of the Senate, Kim Hendren, 75, served one two-year term in the House. He can serve two more House terms before being prohibited by term limits from running again.
“When I returned home after my last Senate session, I planned to spend my time on my farm, my business and with my wife and 14 grandchildren,” he said in a prepared statement on Sunday (Aug. 25). “I have been encouraged by numerous former and present legislators, businessmen and friends to run for this open state representative seat. Perhaps age does bring a perspective and wisdom that will be beneficial as Arkansas continues to grow.”
Gravette Mayor Byron Warren told 5NEWS on June 10 he is running for the House District 92 seat, but he told 5NEWS on Monday (Aug. 26) he is withdrawing from the House race to seek re-election as mayor.
He said that are many projects in Gravette that he started and would “hate to leave unfinished.”
“I hope to get re-elected next November as mayor,” he said in a text message to 5NEWS.
Warren, a 40-year-old former Gravette City Council member, is in his third year in the part-time mayor’s position. He serves full time as a captain in the Siloam Springs Fire Department.
Gravette businessman and former GOP congressional candidate Kurt Maddox also is said to be a potential candidate for the seat.
