Arkansas secretary of state’s primary runoff dividing Republicans, drawing outside money

Kim Hammer, Bryan Norris (All images via the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office)

Hammer, Norris face off in only statewide race in Tuesday’s runoff election

By Andrew DeMillo, Arkansas Advocate

The Republican primary runoff for secretary of state is sharply dividing GOP figures in Arkansas and drawing spending from outside groups on both sides.

Kim Hammer and Bryan Norris are facing off in Tuesday’s primary runoff to be the state’s top election official. Whoever wins the nomination will face Democrat Kelly Grappe and Libertarian Michael Pakko in the November general election.

The race is the only statewide runoff in Tuesday’s election and has become more contentious since Hammer and Norris were the top finishers in the three-person GOP primary March 3.

Both candidates are running on promises to make elections secure and to address Arkansas’ low voter turnout. Hammer, a state senator from Benton, has touted his work on restrictions including a 2021 law he sponsored prohibiting people from being within 100 feet of a polling place unless they’re entering or exiting to vote.

“I don’t know it all but I’ve got a pretty good working knowledge and I’ll be able to go into the office not behind the learning curve,” Hammer, who did not respond to a request for an interview ahead of the runoff, said earlier this month.

Norris, a project manager and Army veteran, has pushed for a return to paper ballots and has said he’d want an audit of voting systems after each election.

Norris declined a request for an interview ahead of the primary, instead sending a release that said he “is fighting for secure elections, hand-marked paper ballots, honest government, and generational wealth for Arkansas families — all in alignment with President Trump’s election-security agenda.”

Hammer has the support of several of the state’s top Republicans, including current Secretary of State Cole Jester. Jester criticized Norris for offensive posts he’s made on X, including one calling Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton a profane term.

Hammer has the endorsement of Cotton, along with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and other top Republicans in the state. The runoff follows a primary where Sanders-backed candidates in three high-profile state Senate races lost.

Norris, who has the backing of Trump supporters such as former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, called the criticism over his social media messages a “coordinated smear campaign” in his release.

The campaign has also drawn six-figure spending from outside groups in the race. Arkansas Conservatives, a group tied to Sanders’ senior adviser Chris Caldwell, has reported spending more than $300,000 and has a website that highlights Norris’ social media posts.

Another group, Republican Patriots of Arkansas, has raised more than $100,000 and spent $33,000 since the primary. The group’s activities include text messages and ads promoting Norris’ candidacy.

The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy.