Ballinger paid Ag Days debt May 20

State Sen. Bob Ballinger’s campaign paid a past-due debt for advertising in the Agriculture Appreciation Days program on May 20, according to a financial report — more than a week after his campaign said the debt had been paid.

Bob Ballinger

The Carroll County News reported May 10 that Ballinger had failed to pay for ads in the Ag Days program dating back to 2019, citing two sources familiar with the situation who asked not to be publicly identified. The sources indicated that Ballinger had been sent multiple invoices for the past-due amount.

A reporter initially contacted Ballinger by text message about the Ag Days debt on May 4 but received no response.

A local resident posting on a Facebook page for Ballinger’s campaign on May 11 — the day after the first published report on the debt — asked: “Why haven’t you paid the money you owe to the Ag Appreciation Day committee?”

The campaign page responded less than an hour later, saying: “It’s paid.”

One of the two original sources said on May 16, however, that no payment had been received from Ballinger, who again did not respond to a request for comment.

The Carroll County News reported May 24 that the source said Ballinger had paid the debt.

In a “Final Campaign Contribution and Expenditure Report,” filed June 30 with the Arkansas secretary of state’s office, Ballinger lists campaign contributions and expenditures covering the period from May 15 through May 24.

The report lists $2,900 in contributions and $22,315.60 in expenditures from May 15 through May 24, leaving a carryover balance of $4,802.71 at the close of the election cycle.

A listing of itemized expenditures of more than $100 includes a $430 payment to “Green Forest Chamber.” The date of that expenditure is listed as May 20.

The Green Forest Chamber of Commerce puts on Agriculture Appreciation Days each year, except for 2020 when the event was canceled because of precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contacted via text message on July 13, Ballinger was asked by a reporter to clarify the discrepancy in dates between the time his campaign said May 11 that the debt had been paid and the May 20 date listed on the contribution and expenditure report. He did not respond, although the text message appeared to have been read shortly after being sent.

Ballinger, a former Berryville resident who now lives in rural Johnson County and represents District 5 in the state Senate, was defeated by former state legislator Bryan King of Green Forest in a June 21 runoff for the Republican nomination for the District 28 seat. District 5 includes a portion of Carroll County, while District 28 — which was established when legislative districts were redrawn after the 2020 federal census — includes all of Carroll County in addition to all of Madison County and portions of Boone, Newton, Franklin and Johnson counties.

King carried Carroll County by a wide margin in the runoff, receiving 1,632 votes compared with 763 for Ballinger. District-wide, King got 3,655 votes, while Ballinger received 3,137.