Two Republican candidates, Congressman Steve Womack and State Senator Clint Penzo, are vying to fill the seat representing the third congressional district in Arkansas.
Sen. Penzo representing the 31st district looks to replace Congressman Womack with a more conservative approach.
“52% of the time he votes with the republicans and 48% of the time he votes with the democrats,” Penzo said. “So people in my district, in the republican primary, want to see somebody that’s a little more conservative and I’m a lot more conservative then Congressman Womack.”
The third congressional district is made up of Washington, Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Madison, and part of Sebastian county. With over a decade in the House, Congressman Womack says he knows his constituents well.
“In politics, when you’re engaged in a discussion with a constituent or a group , it’s very easy to just tell them what they want to hear,” Womack said. “I think my constituents want me to tell them what they need to hear.”
Womack was last challenged in 2022. Janine Parry, Political Science Professor at the University of Arkansas, said this type of race happens often.
“In a time of one-party monopolies in almost every state, the norm for incumbents is either no one files against them, or they get a same-party challenger in the primary who claims – usually against all evidence – that they are insufficiently partisan,” Parry said. “A much-better-funded and well-known challenger tried that against Boozman in 2022 and got little traction. So the evidence suggests Penzo will make a lot of noise to little effect.”
While Penzo has served on the city and state level, he feels like he is ready to serve on a larger scale.“That’s primarily why I’m doing it,” Penzo said. “He’s been in there a really long time, a lot of people want term limits and we don’t have term limits at the federal level so this is kind of the citizens enacting term limits on a long time Congressman.”
While both are looking to represent the same party, Penzo says they still have their differences.
“I represent the people, Congressman Womack is known to be a representative of the large corporations,” Penzo said.
Womack said he sees the values in keeping an open mind.
“I think the country is more of a center-right country,” Womack said. “I don’t think it’s way out there on the extreme and I try to conduct my business in such a way that provides an incremental improvement in the country and you’re not gonna do that if you just go to your corner and say I’m just gonna play my way or the highway.”