Former State Senator Bryan King is asking his supporters to get out and vote in the June 21 Republican primary run-off.
Carroll County voters overwhelmingly supported Bryan King in the May 24 primary election for Senate District 28, but run-off elections typically attract fewer voters. King understands that voters must make an extra effort but underscored the importance of casting a ballot.
“It’s time to choose,” he said, in an interview earlier this week. “Bob Ballinger has not represented this county the way he should.” King said the response of Carroll County voters will be especially important since voters in other parts of the senate district do not know the candidates as well.
Ballinger, the incumbent, ousted King in 2018.
King said his large margin of victory in Carroll County came because people here know him, and they know enough about Ballinger because of local media. “People still come up to me and complain about Ballinger’s involvement in the Ecclesia College situation,” he said. When Ballinger served in the House of Representatives, he diverted tax money from his district to a failing private college in Springdale. Ballinger was receiving payment from the college for legal work. “Only one person in his district benefitted from those taxpayer funds,” King said.
King has been pleased with the grassroots nature of his support. “Ballinger has some big money behind him, including money from some of the worst of the Duggar clan.” King pointed out that Ballinger has paid for semi-trailers around the district to serve as campaign billboards, while smaller King signs appear on houses throughout the district.
Anyone who voted in the May 24 Republican primary can vote in this run-off, but King made a point of appealing to anyone who did not vote in that primary. Only those who voted in the Democratic primary are ineligible for this run-off. Those who voted in the Republican primary, or those who did not vote, are eligible.
Early voting continues through this week, and polls open on Tuesday, June 21. In his final appeal for votes, King pledged “to work for the people, and to promote agriculture and tourism.”