Fox 16’s David Goins reports that state Rep. Rick Saunders of Hot Springs, a Democrat, will complete his current term and then leave office at the first of the year. The governor can then declare a vacancy and put in motion a special election to fill the seat. District 24 will be without a representative in the interim. Republican Keith Crass was elected, days after his sudden death, to succeed the term-limited Saunders. By law, people holding office are able to hold over in the seat when such a circumstance occurs, but Sanders’ situation was complicated by term limits. The attorney general issued an opinion saying the holdover provision should prevail over term limits, but Republicans had objected to Saunders’ continued service and Saunders said he’d decided it wouldn’t be in best interests of constituents for him to continue to serve.

I think Saunders made the best choice for next year. He also was under no obligation to leave his term prematurely. Had he resigned early, it likely wouldn’t have produced a replacement for any meaningful portion of the coming legislative session.

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On the jump is the statutory process for filling vacancies. It can take time.

PS — The Republican Party is now saluting Saunders for his decision. Earlier, several were pushing for Saunders to resign before his term expired to hurry the replacement process. Not very democratic, that. Gov. Mike Beebe praised Saunders, too, and said he’d move expeditiously when the time arrived.

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