By Canadian Press

Little Rock’s first Black mayor wins reelection

Nov 9, 2022 | 12:04 AM

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Frank Scott, Little Rock’s first popularly elected Black mayor, won reelection on Tuesday after a campaign where he was criticized over the homicide rate in Arkansas’ capital and his management of City Hall.

Scott’s reelection bid was one of the few competitive races on the ballot in Arkansas, where Republicans are heavily favored in the governor’s race and other top matchups.

Scott defeated three challengers in Tuesday’s election, winning the more than 40% of the vote needed to claim victory without a runoff.

Scott’s chief rival was Steve Landers, a retired car dealer who had repeatedly criticized the mayor over the city’s homicide rate. Little Rock’s homicides so far this year have outpaced last year’s.

Scott is running at a time when Republicans are stepping up their rhetoric on crime and trying to portray Democratic mayors as unable to protect their cities.

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Other candidates running included Greg Henderson, a real estate agent and publisher of a food blog and Glen Schwarz, a longtime marijuana legalization advocate who has repeatedly run for local office.

Scott, a former state highway commissioner, was first elected mayor in a runoff election in 2018. Little Rock previously had two Black mayors, but they were elected city directors chosen for the job by fellow board members and not by voters.

The Little Rock mayor’s race is technically nonpartisan, but Scott is a high-profile Democrat who worked for former Gov. Mike Beebe and endorsed Michael Bloomberg’s unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

Scott has been targeted in recent weeks by Republican groups that have been campaigning for the mayor’s ouster. They include one campaign funded by former Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Landers has criticized Scott’s handling of crime, pointing to the high number of homicides the city has seen this year. He’s also criticized Scott’s management of City Hall, including a music and arts festival the mayor had championed that was abruptly canceled after questions were raised about its financing.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections

Check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections.

Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press