Copyright Arkansas Online
Your browser does not support the audio element. U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford's campaign manager filed paperwork Friday at the state Capitol for Arkansas' 1st district congressman to seek reelection in the 2026 elections. Crawford, a Jonesboro Republican, has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2011. Crawford's campaign manager, Elijah Fisher, filed paperwork for Crawford with the secretary of state's office late Friday morning. Crawford said in a news release that he is excited to continue fighting for the people of Arkansas' 1st congressional district. "Throughout my time in Congress, I have worked hard to support and protect our farmers, promote business and manufacturing to bring good jobs to Arkansas, and strengthen our national security against both internal and external threats," Crawford said. He said it has been his privilege to represent the people of the 1st congressional district, and he looks forward to the opportunity to continue serving with the same purpose he has always had --" to create a better future for our children and for all who come after." Crawford is the final member of Arkansas' all-Republican delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives to file to run for reelection in the 2026 elections. As of late Friday morning, no other candidate had filed paperwork to run for Arkansas' 1st congressional district seat. The candidate filing period for state and federal offices in Arkansas started Monday. After the first day of candidate filing, the number of candidates who have filed to run for office each day since then has dropped sharply, as it traditionally does. As of late Friday morning, 352 candidates had filed for these offices after factoring in the nonpartisan judicial candidates who submitted petitions of registered voters in September to run for office in lieu of paying filing fees, according to the secretary of state's website. This includes 133 Republicans, 54 Democrats and 165 nonpartisan judicial candidates. The party filing period will end at noon Wednesday at the state Capitol, with no candidate filing on Tuesday because of the Veterans Day holiday, according to the secretary of state's office. The period for nonpartisan judicial candidates to pay their filing fees and file their political practices pledge will end at 3 p.m. Wednesday, with a similar pause for the holiday on Tuesday, according to the secretary of state's office.
