Arkansas PoliticsArkansas Republicans

Gary Campbell Plans Run for District 64 House Seat

Republican Gary Campbell of Fort Smith is spreading the word that he’s planning a run for Arkansas House of Representatives in District 64. The seat is currently held by GOP first-termer Stephanie Malone, setting us up for another primary race.

Campbell’s full news release at jump.

Political Veteran Announces Candidacy

Campbell to Run for State Representative

FORT SMITH, AR (December 10, 2009) – Gary Campbell, a veteran of Fort Smith public service, has announced his Republican candidacy for the position of State Representative, District 64, an area between Rogers Avenue and I-540 from 58th street to the Oklahoma border. The primary election for the seat will be contested on May 18, 2010.

“I’ve been encouraged by many friends to do this for several years. This is the right time. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that I can make a difference representing residents of western Arkansas,” said Campbell. “My experience and service in civic, youth and municipal organizations has placed me at ground zero for local and regional issues. Working at the State Legislative level, I’ll be able to affect legislation that directly assists Fort Smith in its community development and its economic development. That will equate to improvements and jobs for this area.”

“Gary has cultivated working relationships in Fort Smith, Northwest Arkansas, Little Rock and throughout the country,” said fellow City Director Don Hutchings. “He’s exactly what Fort Smith needs in a state legislator; energetic, respected, accessible, focused, intelligent and knowledgeable. Everything he’ll do will start and end with Fort Smith’s best interests.”

Campbell is serving in his fourth term on the Fort Smith Board of Directors and has been elected Vice Mayor five times by fellow Board Members.  Locally he has served in leadership roles as Chairman of the Planning Commission, President of the Boy Scout Council and Scoutmaster where he coached over 35 young men to their Eagle Scout Achievement.  On seven occasions, he organized and trekked with scouts in the rugged mountains of Philmont Scout Ranch hiking over 500 miles of high altitude trails.   He was appointed to the 2008 Legislative Task Force for the 21st Century Economy and in 2009 was appointed to the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, one of three state economic development agencies.

Currently Campbell is serving as President of the Arkansas Municipal League, the first person from Fort Smith in 48 years to serve an organization that Fort Smith helped found.   Recently, he was the first person from Fort Smith to be elected to the Board of Directors of the National League of Cities where he has served as Vice-Chair of NLC’s Community and Economic Development Steering Committee. Throughout his service, he has showcased Fort Smith by bringing state and national groups here for meetings. For several years, he has volunteered in a state wide organization which works to raise Arkansas’ per capita to the national average and provide additional funding without raising taxes.

“The Arkansas Municipal League is an amazing forum.  It represents Arkansas’ 500 communities as their official representative at the legislature and provides a training venue for municipal officials. At any given point, I can talk with any city from across the state about topics that are relevant to Fort Smith. Those relationships are crucial to making changes at the state level and will serve to benefit Fort Smith,” said Campbell.

Campbell retired early from IBM Corporation and operates a successful management consulting practice. His hands-on economic development experience has come through his work with the City of Fort Smith and his personal Chamber of Commerce involvement. Gary estimates that in his role as a civic and community leader, he has directly participated in the recruiting and/or retention of over 750 jobs for this area with an estimated $300M of plant investment.

Gary has strong Christian values and is an active member of First Methodist Church.  His conservative viewpoint will guide his votes in the legislature as he represents the best interests of the District 64 citizens.  He and his wife Jo Ann, long-time residents of Fort Smith have three sons who graduated with honors from Fort Smith schools.

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9 thoughts on “Gary Campbell Plans Run for District 64 House Seat

  • fruitfly

    I did not know Stephanie prior to her coming to Little Rock to begin her first legislative term in January of this year. I knew a little of her background and to be truthful, I was not sure how that she would do. That question was answered by session’s end in a very positive way. She was a solid and unwavering conservative and was liked by her colleagues. Some so-called Republicans embarrass us at the Capitol, NOT Stephanie Malone. She one of the good ones.

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  • Bubba in Gurdon

    I am hearing that Malone’s conservative values hurt her ability to bring home the pork. She voted no on the cigarette tax and Robbie cut off the flow to her district. Meanwhile, RINO poster boy Rick Green brought home the bacon. The country club Republicans in Fort Smith did not much care for Malone’s inability to play nice with Robbie in exchange for her payoffs so they recruited Campbell to run.

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  • Curious George

    Unbelievable that Bubba in Gurdon and FSInsider on the Tolbert Report have the exact same thinking. To the word. I guess we should run everything through them.

    Now back to reality…Just because someone is in office doesn’t preclude them from having a primary. Last I checked if someone wants to run, they pay a filing fee and can run. It really doesn’t matter if the seat is occupied by an incumbent. It also has no bearing on the success or failure in anyone’s eyes of the incumbent. The re-election or not will gauge that…

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  • Bill from Sheridan

    “Gary has strong Christian values”. What a jackass. This dude voted in the Democratic Primary for president last year. When did lying to the voters about your “conservative” values become Christ like?

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  • Perry County Pete

    A lot of Republicans voted in the the Democratic primary for president last year! Don’t you remember Rush’s “Operation Chaos”? I don’t know either of these candidates, but to hang Campbell out to dry just because he voted in the Democratic primary doesn’t make sense.

    I’d question his Christian principles based on his affiliation with the Methodist church more than which primary he voted in! 😉

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  • Robert from Russellville

    Lies lies lies. Operation Chaos started AFTER the primary in AR.

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  • Perry County Pete

    I didn’t say Operation Chaos was in effect during the Arkansas primary. I said that a lot of Republicans voted in the Democratic primary. Limbaugh picked up on that and started calling it “Operation Chaos” and encouraged others to do the same in later primaries.

    Quit being a tool.

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  • Robert from Russellville

    Maybe he voted in the democrat primary because he is one of those chamber libs that would rather have tax increases and pork than fiscal conservatism.

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  • carol

    Don’t know anything about the challenger, but Steph is a rock solid conservative, and she shows it with her votes.
    Go Steph!

    Reply

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