He will make it official this fall Republican State Senator Shawn Womack of Mountain Home is telling friends that he will seek a Circuit Judge position being vacated by Judge Roger Logan. Womack is co-chairman of the powerful Joint Budget Committee,
The move has its adventages were Womack to win. More money. Office and office expenses. Paid staff. Control of Docket. No term limits and “Judge” beside his name. It may also position him in the future for the region’s Arkansas Court of Appeals seat or a statweide Arkansas Supreme Court race if either ever interests him.
Republican State Representative Johnny Key of Mountain Home will seek Womack’s Senate seat. Key may face a challenge from Democratic State Representative Monty Davenport of Yellville.
For a while there was speculation that Womack would make a run for Marion Berry’s congressional seat when Berry decided to retire. That bid would have been a considerable longshot, and it appears Womack is opting instead for the safe play. The issue for him will be whether his extreme voting record in the state general assembly will hamper any effort to get beyond the Circuit Judge level. The State Bar doesn’t care too much for politics behind the bench, and the rules governing the election of judges are very clear that political issues are never to be discussed (see the Wendell Griffin matter).
[...] Blake’s Think Tank comments on this issue: The State Bar doesn’t care too much for politics behind the bench, and the rules governing the election of judges are very clear that political issues are never to be discussed (see the Wendell Griffin matter). [...]
[...] I noted here several months ago, State Senator Shawn Womack announced that he will bypass another term in the [...]