Little Rock City Director Gene Fortson says he plans to seek election to a third term in his at-large seat on the board.
Fortson, 79, said he won’t have a formal announcement until after a Danube River cruise this month with his wife.
This news may or may not affect plans by others talking of making board races.
The city clerk told me a man picked up materials this week about filing petitions for Fortson’s seat, but didn’t get his name. No one has announced.
In other races: Molly Miller is challenging incumbent Director Joan Adcock. A couple of potential candidates who haven’t declared the seats they might seek are high school teacher Clayton Johnson and Antwan Phillips, a lawyer. Capi Peck is the only announced candidate so far for Director Brad Cazort’s Ward 4 seat. He is not seeking re-election. At-large Director Dean Kumpuris has not yet said whether he’ll seek re-election.
UPDATE: Antwan Phillips got in touch and said it appeared that, while he remains interested in a race for the board, that this wasn’t likely to be the year. He’d had hopes of another open seat developing on the board, but that now appears unlikely. He expects, as I do, that Kumpuris will run again, which leaves incumbents on the ballot in all three at-large seats, a daunting thing for a challenger. Phillips will be active on a group appointed by Education Commissioner Johnny Key to work on Pulaski school issues, particularly sorting out school district and charter schools’ sometimes competing interests.
UPDATE: Dean Kumpuris said he’d be talking with his wife over the weekend and expected to have a decision on re-election by Monday.