SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The results are in for an Arkansas Senate primary election in eastern Washington County that's captivated interest across the state.
The Senate District 7 seat became vacant after Republican state Sen. Lance Eads resigned from the position in October to take a job in the private sector.
Tonight, voters selected Lisa Parks to be the Democratic nominee, but there will have to be a runoff election between Colby Fulfer and Steve Unger since neither Republican candidate was able to get over 50% of the vote. The runoff election between Fulfer and Unger will take place on Jan. 11, 2022. The winner of that election will face off against Parks on Feb. 8. 2022, to decide who wins the seat.
Tuesday Night Results
Democrats
- Lisa Parks - 84%
- Derek Van Voast - 16%
Republicans
- Colby Fulfer - 47%
- Steve Unger - 32%
- Jim Bob Duggar - 15%
- Edge Nowlin - 6%
Interest in the race peaked after Jim Bob Duggar of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" threw his hat in the race. The primary election coincided with a federal jury finding his son Josh Duggar guilty of downloading and possessing child pornography.
Leading up to tonight's election, 5NEWS spoke with each candidate (besides Jim Bob Duggar, who did not give us a comment) about what they hoped to achieve in the state Senate seat.
District 7 includes Springdale, Johnson, Goshen and Elkins in eastern Washington County.
Tonight on 5NEWS at 10, you can hear from Republican and Democratic watch parties in Washington County as voters react to the results.