Marcus Jones gives his acceptance speech after being elected state chair of the Democratic Party of Arkansas on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Photo by Sonny Albarado/Arkansas Advocate)
Arkansas Democrats elected former congressional candidate Marcus Jones as the state committee’s new chair on Saturday.
Jones, a retired Army colonel, received 128 votes to party Vice Chair Jannie Cotton’s 76. Cotton had been serving as interim chair since Grant Tenille stepped down in mid-July as Democratic Party of Arkansas leader after four years.
Cotton, a longtime party activist, has been vice chair of the state committee since 2023 and is chair of the national party’s candidate recruitment effort.
In her nomination speech to more than 200 state committee members, Cotton said she heard the call for change, “that you needed to feel included.”
“I’m here to be your voice,” she said. “I’m also hear to be the voice of those who feel hopeless so that they can feel hopeful.”
In his acceptance speech Saturday at the Sheraton Four Points hotel in Little Rock, Jones alluded to the campaign between him and Cotton by mentioning a Bible verse “that says that as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend” through debate and dialogue.
“Now’s the time we come back together. Now’s the time we move forward… and carry those Democratic values outside of this room,” he said. “Outside, not everybody shares those same values. And we’ve got to be the people that carry that foward for Arkansas. We’ve got to be the people that do that for our nation.”
He pledged to help grow the number of active county Democratic committees to 70.
“Right now, we’ve got somewhere between 52 and 55, so we’ve all got some work to do,” Jones said.
He also promised to produce a five-year strategic plan within 90 days that will take advantage of the skills and talents of county and auxiliary committees to help recruit and elect more Democrats.
“‘Raise money and elect Democrats,’ isn’t a plan,” he said in a statement of candidacy. “The next Chair must establish a strategic vision for our party and collaborate with every team member to meet a long-term goal.”
Jones demonstrated fundraising prowess in his race for Congress last year against Rep. French Hill, and has continued to raise money on behalf of Democratic candidates since, according to his biography.
In introductory remarks Saturday, state Rep. Andrew Collins of Little Rock praised Tenille’s work rebuilding the party, for helping secure the victory of state Rep. Diana Gonzales Worthen of Springdale – the first Latina in the Legislature – and the first net gain for her party in the House in nearly two decades.
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