District 4 City Director Larry Williams on Tuesday announced his bid for the Democratic nomination for commissioner of state lands.
Williams said in an interview prior to Tuesday's announcement in Malvern, where he grew up, that he planned to serve out the remainder of his term on the city board, which expires at the end of 2018.
"Obviously, I will serve out my current term" as a city director, Williams said, noting that his options included running for reelection to the city board if he lost the Democratic primary on May 22. "In all likelihood, I won't be able to stand for reelection (on the city board) next year."
The state land office performs sales and redemption of lands certified for nonpayment of real estate taxes and advises county collectors of all tracts redeemed or sold so that the acreage and lots can be re-entered on tax books, according to Williams, who served on the Commissioner of State Lands Advisory Council under former Land Commissioner Charlie Daniels.
"People have said, 'How can you win? You're a Democrat?'" Williams said. He said his response has been that the state land commissioner's office mostly interacts with counties, so he is reaching out to county officials for help in establishing a campaign organization in as many counties as possible. To date, he has a campaign chairman or coordinator in 20 of the state's 75 counties, and 16 of those are a current or former county judge.
"I've been working on this for several months," Williams said. Williams, who held the county judge's position for 16 years, chose not to seek re-election in 2010 and made an unsuccessful bid for the Arkansas House District 24 seat.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Williams is the second Democratic candidate to announce his bid for state land commissioner -- a post held by term-limited Republican John Thurston, who said he's running for secretary of state next year. A year ago, Redfield Democrat Shaun Hubanks announced that he plans to vie for land commissioner next year.
Republicans Tommy Land of Heber Springs and Alex Ray of Byrant have said they're running for the Republican nomination for state land commissioner, according to the Democrat-Gazette.
Williams, in his official campaign announcement, said he first became interested in the state land commissioner's office as an administrative assistant to then-County Judge Bill McCuen.
"The commissioner of state lands returns millions of tax dollars each year to Arkansas counties," Williams said in his announcement. "With 35 years' experience of working in local government, I know the operations of the office and I will work hard for the people of Arkansas."
Williams served eight two-year terms as county judge, ending on Dec. 31, 2010. He is the longest-serving county judge in Garland County history.
Local on 12/06/2017