Ballance won’t seek District 6 seat

Rodney Ballance, the Berryville businessman who had announced his intention to run for the District 6 seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives, has announced that he will not run for the office.

Ballance, owner of Berryville-based Hometown Internet LLC, said in a statement that he intends to focus on his business after the company came under criticism during a recent legislative hearing.

Hometown Internet was recently announced as a preliminary recipient of an $88 million grant to expand broadband access in six Northwest Arkansas counties. The company also is slated to receive $47 million in grant funding for a similar project in Missouri.

During a meeting of the Arkansas Legislature’s Joint Performance Review Committee on Monday, Oct. 27, a representative of a competing company suggested that Hometown Internet was not properly vetted during the grant process.

“After my company came under attack by a competitor through the legislature last Monday, I felt that I needed to remove myself as a lightning rod, no pun intended, for both my company and the legislature,” Ballance said in a written statement. “It became evident from that meeting that nearly 30,000 households in Arkansas and Missouri are counting on my company to deliver a very serious infrastructure component to them. I made a decision to put the needs of my employees and those we serve with intent ahead of any other ambition I might have. Moving forward 100% of my time will be making sure the grant money with which we have been entrusted is used efficiently and effectively.”

The District 6 seat is currently held by Republican Harlan Breaux of Holiday Island, who is not seeking re-election and had endorsed Ballance.

As of Monday, three Republicans had filed as candidates for the seat — Steven Baird of Eureka Springs, Hunter Rivett of Berryville and Cody Rogers of Omaha.