Former El Dorado Mayor Frank Hash could be returning to the El Dorado City Council Chamber of City Hall as a city government official, but this time as a member of the city council.
With a vote of 198 to 192, Hash slipped past incumbent Avo Vartenian to snag the Ward 1, Position 2, seat during the 2022 preferential primary election on Tuesday, according to the unofficial election results that were provided by the Union County Election Commission.
Before delivering the final, unofficial tally for the night, election commissioners hit a snag.
Cliff Wright, UCEC chairman, and Commissioner Floyd Thomas said Wright and Commissioner Mike Hayes had to hasten to voting centers in Huttig and Lawson because the voting implements had not been closed out properly.
Thomas said Wright and Hayes had to reload voting machine memory sticks and recount the votes — a process that was finalized just before 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The unofficial count did not include provisional ballots. Thomas said Wright is expected to call a meeting, likely this week, to count provisional ballots. Thomas he did not yet know how many provisional ballots were cast in the election.
A total of 4,848 Union County registered voters — of 26,262 — participated in the primary election.
El Dorado Ward 1, Position 2 race
Vartenian has held the Ward 1, Position 2 El Dorado City Council seat since February when he was appointed to fill an unexpired term that was left by former Council Member Billy Blann.
Blann retired from the seat after 13 years to move to Northwest Arkansas.
Vartenian unsuccessfully challenged Blann for the Ward 1, Position 2 seat in 2018 and was one of four candidates to submit a resume to serve in the position after Blann stepped down.
On Feb. 10, Vartenian was appointed to the seat with a vote by the El Dorado City Council and he was sworn in the following day by City Clerk Heather McVay.
The term sunsets Dec. 31.
As a result of his appointment to the council, Vartenian also took over the vacant position that was left by Blann on the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Commission.
Safety for all citizens, economic development, activities for children and adults, education and cleanliness of the city are some of the issues the said he planned to target, if elected.
Hash served two terms as mayor from 2011 until 2019.
He lost a bid for a third term during the 2018 Republican preferential primary in a three-way race with Bill Luther, president and chief executive officer of the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce, and former El Dorado Police Department Lt. Chris Lutman.
Hash unsuccessfully challenged Blann for the Ward 1, Position 2 seat in 2020.
Twelve years earlier, he lost a bid for the Ward 1, Position 1 seat to former city Council Member Vertis Mason.
It was Hash’s first go at an El Dorado public office but it was not his last.
At the urging of the Union County Republican Committee, Hash entered the 2010 mayoral race as the only Republican candidate and the underdog, a status he would overcome to be elected to two consecutive terms.
He is believed to be the city’s first Republican mayor.
Following his primary election loss in 2018, Hash reflected on eight years as the city’s top elected official, saying that he was most proud of a $6 million renovation to the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium.
The project lasted more than 18 months and was largely completed in 2016, with some punch-list items, follow-up repairs and complementary projects done in 2017 and 2018.
Hash said he planned to remain active with some projects that he was unable to complete during his mayoral tenure — including a renovation and expansion project that began in 2019 at the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex and is ongoing.
Among his parting words in 2018, Hash said, “It’s been an honor to serve as mayor of the city where I grew up.”
At the start of 2023, he could be able to continue serving the city from the Ward 1, Position 2 council seat.
He will face Democrat LaQuita Rainey in the General Election scheduled for November.
On Tuesday, Hash held off Vartenian by capturing the majority (105) of 204 early votes.
Vartenian and Hash tied with 93 votes each that were cast on Election Day.
Ward 3, Position 2
Come January 1, Ward 3 residents will have a new representative in the second position on the El Dorado City Council.
George Calloway Jr. will join Council Member Willie McGhee in representing Ward 3, which covers the city’s southeast quadrant, in positions 2 and 1, respectively
Calloway bumped incumbent Andre Rucks from the Ward 3, Position 2, spot by grabbing 162 votes, making Rucks a two-term council member with 116 votes.
The primary race was a rematch of sorts for the two Democratic candidates.
In September of 2018, city council members appointed Calloway to fill the Ward 3, Position 2, seat, which was vacated after the sudden death of Council Member Tony Henry on Sept. 1.
Henry, who had previously served on the council, had himself been appointed to the seat after another former Council Member, Kensel Spivey-Green, resigned because she was moving to Ward 4. (Spivey is a candidate for the Ward 4, Position 2 seat and will face incumbent Dianne Hammond in the General Election in November).
City council members must live in the ward they represent.
Henry had already won the 2018 preferential primary election in a race against Rucks for the Ward 3, Position 2 seat, when he was appointed mid-year to fill the remainder of Spivey-Green’s term
Henry would have begun a full two-year term on Jan. 1, 2019.
The city council appointed Calloway to finish out the 2017 - 2018 term with less than four months remaining.
Calloway and Rucks were the front-runners in a trio of nominees — Elizabeth Eggleston, executive director of the El Dorado Historic District Commission, was the third — that the Union County Democratic Committee had considered to serve the 2019 - 2020 term on the city council.
Rucks received nine votes and Calloway eight from the UCDC.
Rucks served in the Ward 3, Position 2 council seat for the next two years and he secured another two-year term when he ran unopposed in the 2020 preferential primary.
In the primaries on Tuesday, Calloway was the favorite among Election Day and absentee voters, picking up 86 and 19 of the respective ballots, compared to 59 and one, respectively, for Rucks.
Rucks led among early voters. He garnered 56 early votes, versus 47 for Calloway.
Calloway is a U.S. Navy and Vietnam veteran and a pastor who retired after 34 years with Entergy. He rounded out his tenure with Entergy as a supervisor in the Southern Arkansas Field Meter Department.
Some of the issues he plans to focus on as a member of the city council are economic development, affordable housing/home ownership and more resources for public education.
Ward 4, Position 1
Roy Lee “Buddy” McAdams cruised to victory Tuesday against Janelle Williams for the Ward 4, Position 1 seat on the El Dorado City Council.
Both made their first foray into the ring for public office and it was McAdams who walked away with the win in a vote of 206 to 66.
The Republican candidates went head-to-head in a race for the seat that is held by city Council Member Paul Choate, who is challenging Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer in the November General Election.
McAdams held the lead in every voting category, with votes of 72 - 32 on Election Day, 7 - 2 with absentee votes and a decisive 127 to 32 with early votes.
McAdams and Williams each has an extensive background in community service and volunteerism and both cited cleanliness of the city as one of their top priorities.
Other issues on which McAdams said he intends to work are supporting local industries and building relationships and promoting unity among city officials.
Having lived in Ward 4 for three generations, McAdams said he wants to follow in his parents’ footsteps by extending his community service to city government.
Mary and Roy Lee McAdams both previously served on the El Dorado City Council in Ward 4 seats and focused on similar issues, including keeping the city clean and litter-free.
“I desire to help guide El Dorado to regain its pride and become a city of opportunity and growth by serving the citizens of Ward 4 in 2023,” McAdams has said.
This story has been updated from a previous version with additional details about the vote count. The update also reflects a correction: that Frank Hash will face LaQuita Rainey in the general election in November. The headline has also been updated.