From The Arkansas Advocate – Addressing issues with the state’s school voucher program, supporting economic development and investing in Arkansans are priorities for Sen. Fred Love and Supha Xayprasith-Mays, the two candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for Arkansas governor.
Love is a term-limited lawmaker from Mabelvale who has served in the Arkansas Legislature since 2011. Xayprasith-Mays is a Bentonville businesswoman who ran an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2022.
The two are hoping to challenge Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is seeking a second term and is a national figure from her time as White House press secretary under President Donald Trump. Sanders has amassed more than $4.2 million in the bank for her reelection. Love and Xayprasith-Mays have about $3,000 and $2,200, respectively.
The Democrat and Republican nominees will also face a Libertarian candidate who will be nominated later this month.
If Love or Xayprasith-Mays wins in November, they would become the first minority candidate to hold the office and the state’s first Democratic governor in over a decade.
Education was a major priority in Sanders’ first term, which saw the passage of the LEARNS Act. The wide-ranging education law increased Arkansas’ minimum teacher salary and created a school voucher program that allows state funds to be used for allowable education expenses, such as private school tuition.
Lawmakers have approved more than $309 million for the program for the 2025-2026 school year.
If elected, Xayprasith-Mays said she would review the program because she’s concerned it hurts public schools. That taxpayer money could be better spent improving struggling public schools and paying teachers more, according to Xayprasith-Mays who said the whole community would benefit.
“Public tax money should never go to a private school nothing against the private school, but if you decide to use them, you should pay for them,” she said.
Love said he would eliminate the program entirely. To better support public schools, Love said he would invest in literacy programs and mental health services, and increase funding for the state’s early childhood education program, Arkansas Better Chance.
The Democratic lawmaker said he would also include money in the state’s education funding formula for rural schools to pay their teachers more, which could address recruitment issues.
Both candidates said they want to provide free lunch to all students, building on a law passed by the Legislature last year that allows every student to receive free breakfast.
They also expressed interest in expanding economic development outside the state’s most populous areas. Creating high-income jobs in clean energy and technology is another priority for Xayprasith-Mays, according to her website.
While Love and Xayprasith-Mays support raising the state’s minimum wage of $11 an hour, their philosophies on tax cuts differed. Xayprasith-Mays said she would be interested in exploring ways to cut property taxes for homeowners.
Love said he’s not against tax cuts, but argued the state shouldn’t continue cutting taxes when there are programs that aren’t being invested in sufficiently.
“We need to stop investing in things that don’t yield us anything and invest in our people,” he said.
Love has sponsored roughly two dozen laws, including some that require training for election officials, prohibit the sale of a dead human body and require warning labels for hair relaxers with cancer-causing chemicals.
He also sponsored legislation in 2015 to remove Confederacy leader Robert E. Lee’s name from the state holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Arkansas enacted a law making the change in 2017.
Love, who argues the state is investing more in corporations than its people, said he’s running because Arkansans deserve better.
Xayprasith-Mays described herself as a regular citizen who saw what’s happening in the world and wanted to do something. Xayprasith-Mays said her campaign is focused on inclusion and putting people first.
“Whether I win or lose, I will give it my best, and I hope that the people of this beautiful state will give me an opportunity to serve them,” she said. “It would be an honor.”
Early voting begins Tuesday and Election Day is March 3.
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