Candidates for judgeships in Arkansas aren’t supposed to publicly align themselves with a political party. That’s what the “nonpartisan” word means in the term “nonpartisan judicial elections.”
Specifically, the Arkansas Judicial Code of Conduct says a judge or judicial candidate should not “publicly identify himself or herself as a candidate of a political organization.”
But Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Barbara Webb has a track record of flouting the rules, and she’s not stopping now. Webb is currently an associate justice, but she’s running to replace outgoing Chief Justice Dan Kemp, who’s retiring after his term ends.
Republicans in northeast Arkansas recently received an invitation to a “casual dinner honoring Barbara, the conservative Republican for Chief Justice in the March 5th election.” The message is from a group called “Republicans for Barbara Webb.”
Barbara Webb’s husband, Doyle Webb, is a former head of the state Republican Party and now the director of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed Doyle Webb to the position last January.
Thanks to messages like these, anyone who doesn’t know about Doyle Webb’s long and financially fruitful affiliation with the state Republican Party will still get the message about where his wife stands politically, judicial code of conduct be damned.
Webb is vying with fellow Supreme Court associate justices Karen Baker and Rhonda Wood for the chief justice spot, along with former state representative Jay Martin. If no single candidate in the four-way race wins more than 50% of the vote on March 5, the race will go to a November runoff.