Westerman wins third term; early returns show 2nd District horse race

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., talks about the "A Better Way" program Wednesday at Cossatot College in Ashdown, Ark. Republicans from the House of Representatives are promoting their plan as well as selling constituents on Donald Trump.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., talks about the "A Better Way" program Wednesday at Cossatot College in Ashdown, Ark. Republicans from the House of Representatives are promoting their plan as well as selling constituents on Donald Trump.

LITTLE ROCK-Republican congressman Bruce Westerman has been elected to his third term to a U.S. House seat representing southern and western Arkansas.

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Karyna Shatkovskaya

Westerman is a former state lawmaker from Hot Springs. He defeated Hayden Shamel, who is chairwoman of the Garland County Democratic Party, and Libertarian Tom Canada in Tuesday's contest.

Shamel, a teacher at Lakeside High School, made education and health care central to her campaign.

A Republican congressman in central Arkansas hoped to fend off a challenge Tuesday from a cancer survivor who had criticized his vote for repealing the health care overhaul, while the chairman of the House Budget Committee won re-election.

Early returns showed a tight race between Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill and Democratic challenger Clarke Tucker in the 2nd Congressional District race covering Little Rock and seven central Arkansas counties. Hill was first elected to the seat in 2014. The race also features Libertarian nominee Joe Swafford.

Democrats believed the 2nd District's urban section would give the party a better chance than Arkansas' three other congressional seats, where challengers mounted long-shot bids to unseat Republican incumbents. In 2016, Trump won 52 percent of the district's vote.

Tucker has talked often in the race about his bout with bladder cancer last year, and has criticized Hill over his vote to repeal the federal health care law last year. Tucker underwent surgery and chemotherapy last year and is now cancer-free. Tucker said the experience and House Republicans' vote to repeal the health care law motivated him to challenge Hill. The repeal failed.

Hill easily won his second term in 2016 by more than 20 percentage points but has been on defense in the race. He has run a series of ads trying to link Tucker with national Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton. He also has criticized Tucker as soft on immigration and for the times he voted "present" or didn't cast a vote on controversial bills in the state House.

Republican Rep. Steve Womack, who chairs the House Budget Committee, defeated Democrat Josh Mahony in northwest Arkansas' 3rd District.

In east Arkansas' 1st Congressional District, Republican Rep. Rick Crawford defeated Democratic challenger Chintan Desai.

Jeff Walker, who owns a fitness center in Little Rock, has supported Hill in the past and backed Trump two years ago but voted for Tucker in Tuesday's election. Walker, 52, said he recently purchased coverage through the insurance exchange set up under the health care law and worried he wouldn't be able to afford a policy if the overhaul is repealed.

"I voted for Clarke Tucker just in fear of that going away," Walker said after voting at a west Little Rock church.

Bernica Tackett, a retired teacher from Bryant, said Tuesday she voted for Hill and said she believed the incumbent lawmaker has helped enact Trump's agenda.

"I think he really does follow the lead that the president promised," Tackett said.

Hill's campaign fund has dwarfed Tucker's, and the race has drawn the interest of national groups on both sides. Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton's PAC has run online ads and sent out mailers targeting Tucker, while the Democrats' congressional campaign arm has run TV spots attacking Hill over health care. Both candidates last month condemned a political action committee's radio ad in favor of Hill that suggested white Democrats would lynch black Americans if they won the midterm election.

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