Madison County JP announces bid for State House

Kingston resident James Eaton said Monday, May 22, he will seek the District 26 seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives next year after incumbent Mark Berry of Ozark announced last week that he will not seek reelection.

Eaton, a member of the Madison County Quorum Court and owner of Huntsville Insurance Services, said sitting representatives and others in the community have asked him to run for Berry’s seat. House District 26 includes portions of Carroll, Madison and Franklin counties.

“I have a desire to serve. I’ve been on community boards, the Chamber [of Commerce], Lions Club, library board, Masonic Lodge, Special Olympics, now I’m on the Quorum Court. It just seemed like the next step,” Eaton said.

Eaton and his wife, Jennifer, have four children. Two have graduated from Huntsville High School, while two currently are in Huntsville schools. Eaton is a graduate of St. Paul High School and earned a bachelor’s degree at Arkansas Tech University and a master’s degree at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. After coaching basketball in Conway for six years, Eaton moved back to his native Madison County and purchased Huntsville Insurance in 1999.

Eaton said he doesn’t feel as if Madison County has been poorly served by Berry in the House.

“The people that I’ve talked to that have asked Mr. Berry’s advice or help have been very complimentary of him, so I don’t feel like we’ve been underserved as much. I do feel like we’re the central, kind of the hub of this district. It goes to Green Forest basically, Carroll County, then kind of cuts off at Green Forest, goes over to Alpena to the east and then it stops at the Arkansas River going into Franklin County. Takes in the communities of Altus and Ozark. Seems like the hub is here.”

Berry, the House chairman of the Joint Performance Review Committee, said he will continue to serve as a state representative until the end of his current term in January of 2025.

The 2024 primary election will be March 5, and the 2024 general election will be Nov. 5.

St. Paul Republican Bobby Ballinger Jr., son of former state Sen. Bob Ballinger, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that “I haven’t made a decision about running for office, but I do have a heart for service for my community. At this point, I do not know if my service to my neighbors will extend to serving them in the state Legislature.”

Eaton said, “A few of the representatives and other people have asked me to run, so he dropped out and it seemed like a good time if I was going to. My kids, a lot of their activities will be over by the time if I were elected, so it’ll be a good time in my personal life.

“I want to get out and talk to people and see what they’re actually concerned about,” Eaton said of the top issues in the district.

“By owning a small business, I think small businesses are the backbone of small communities, so I do feel like my experience owning a business, I want to help small businesses by keeping regulations down, taxes down and a large part of that would be in agri, because we are a agri community. People have cows and chickens, so that’s a part that needs to be served, as well. I’m pro-gun, pro-conservative Christian, so those viewpoints are there also.

“I’m for limiting government and lowering taxes where possible,” he said.

Eaton also discussed the LEARNS Act, championed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and passed in the most recent legislative session. While teacher pay will increase with the legislation, the full impact on small school districts is unknown.

“The LEARNS Act was a big thing, yes. It’s a big bill, so there’s a lot of things to digest there. I’m sure like with all legislation, some will be good, some will be bad. Smaller schools, I don’t think we know the actual impact it’s going to have yet. That’s another reason I’d like to be a part of it.”

Eaton said small school districts are “vital to communities. I know there are three in our county. ... That’s the heart of the community is the school, so I’m for small schools.”

Eaton was asked about the situation in Washington, D.C., where lawmakers and President Joe Biden are trying to work out a debt limit deal to avoid an economic crisis over the budget. If an agreement doesn’t happen, the government would run out of money and would default on its debts by June 1.

“I think we’d be better off if both sides worked together better,” Eaton said. “We could obviously lower spending, if government was smaller. I feel like if congressmen’s paychecks were on the line they’d probably find a solution. We won’t default. They’re just saying ‘We can’t default,’ so we’ll have to pass it, so we’re going to have to increase our debt ceiling. While people may not want to, I don’t think we can default as a country.”

Eaton, who said, “I’m not a politician,” looks forward to meeting people in Carroll and Franklin counties. Before Berry made his announcement not to seek reelection, Eaton had not considered running for state office. His seat on the Madison County Quorum Court was the first time he sought public office. Berry served more than 21 years active duty and 24 years with the Arkansas National Guard before retiring.

“Hadn’t really considered it,” he said about running for state office. “I was kind of anticipating General Berry would run again. This isn’t a build-up thing. I just thought it was something I needed to do.”

Eaton said his only hesitation to running was that he’d never done it before, except for the quorum court.

“I don’t consider myself a politician,” Eaton said. “I think if you know me I’m usually pretty straight forward. I don’t know how that will play politically, but that’s OK, it’ll still be the same.”

Eaton said a webpage soon will be available under the domain EatonForArkansas.