Earlier this month, the National Rifle Association endorsed Courtney Goodson for chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, a fact that Goodson has been proudly touting in her campaign commercials. We wondered what could possibly form the basis of an NRA endorsement for a Supreme Court race, considering the NRA’s own website notes that it generally doesn’t endorse judicial candidates.

Times are a changing, I guess, because the gun lobby now has made an endorsement in the other race for state Supreme Court.

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Shawn Womack, the Mountain Home circuit judge running for associate justice against Little Rock attorney Clark Mason, wrote a Facebook post on Thursday proclaiming “Proud to announce that we have been endorsed by the National Rifle Association! Please help spread the word!” And indeed, there he is on the NRA’s endorsement page for Arkansas.

Looks like the endorsement is working out as intended. Here’s one of the comments on Womack’s FB post:

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Add this to the long list of reasons to be concerned about Shawn Womack sitting on the highest court in the state.

When Lindsey asked an NRA spokesperson earlier in the month why it had endorsed Goodson, he got this non-response: “Our endorsement is based on her strong support of the Second Amendment. … We consider her an incumbent and as such our endorsement is based on her record.” What, specifically, in a judge’s record would indicate she’s NRA material, Lindsey asked? No reply.

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It’s worth noting that Womack and Goodson are supported by different interest groups, broadly speaking. The Chamber of Commerce and other business interests back Womack in the associate justice contest, but in the chief justice race those same groups are championing Goodson’s opponent, Circuit Judge Dan Kemp.

P.S.: I’ve heard Womack’s campaign (or maybe an ally of the campaign) has a new mailer advertising his NRA endorsement. If anyone has one, please send us a picture.

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