Little Rock, Arkansas – After Steve Landers formally conceded the campaign, Frank Scott Jr. was able to be re-elected as mayor of Little Rock.
Scott had approximately 50% of the vote as of 11:00 p.m., while Landers had approximately 38%.
Since Mayor Frank Scott’s re-election campaign was hampered by criticism and a record-high number of homicides in the city, the contest has been extremely close.
Scott has been under criticism from the right for the uptick in violent crime even though the campaign is nonpartisan. Landers, who describes himself as independent, has contributed to a number of Republican and Democratic politicians.
Along with other Republican organizations, Landers has gotten support from the political action committee of former governor Mike Huckabee.
Little Rock has witnessed a 6% decrease in overall violent crime for the year, according to Scott, who has faced criticism for the way the city has handled crime.
“We’ve created a true short-term and long-term plan of action, that’s the reason crime is down 6%,” Mayor Scott said during a mayoral forum. “[Crime] is not a quick remedy; we are still dealing with problems from 15 years ago.”
According to Scott and the police department, domestic violence, not the gang activity that the city experienced in the early 1990s, is the main cause of the homicides.
Glen Schwarz and Greg Henderson, the opposing candidates, were not selected for the runoff. In Henderson, about 8% of the vote was cast.