SPRINGDALE (KFSM) – Former Lt. Gov. Mark Darr has taken a job at a Northwest Arkansas automotive dealership, he announced in a post on his Facebook page late Wednesday (July 16).
“This week I joined Crain Hyundai of Springdale,” Darr says in the Facebook post. “I have always loved visiting with the public, seeing old friends and making new ones.”
Below is the photo that ran on his Facebook page with the announcement.
“I appreciate being part of this team and if you or anyone you know are ever in need of a vehicle (Hyundai or not) I would be honored to assist you,” he continues in the Facebook post. “Please call, text, inbox me or just stop by if I can be of help.”
The lieutenant governor’s office became vacant on Feb. 1 when Darr resigned after being fined by the state Ethics Commission for spending violations. Darr, a Republican, had briefly been a congressional candidate before the ethics issues came to light.
The Facebook post is the first public mention of Darr’s job status in months. Earlier this year, he applied for a job to become the University of Arkansas’ lobbyist, but that position, paying $175,000 annually, instead went to a different figure from the political sphere, Randy Massanelli, state director for U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.
Another of the 33 applicants for the UA lobbying job, state Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, lost out to Massanelli but accepted a lower-paying $130,000-a-year position as associate vice president for university relations for the University of Arkansas System.
Darr did not receive a university job.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., and Democrat John Burkhalter, a former state Highway Commission member, are running for lieutenant governor in the Nov. 4 general election.
