Jon Comstock of Rogers, a Democratic lawyer who lost a challenge to Republican Sen. Cecile Bledsoe in 2018, is going to try for a Benton County legislative seat again this year. He’s running for House District 96, currently held by Republican Rep. Grant Hodges.

Comstock, whose career included time as counsel for Walmart, now runs a dispute resolution business. He served by appointment by Gov. Mike Beebe in 2011 to complete a circuit judge term. In private life, he’s worked on justice system reforms, including in bail, mental health services for the incarcerated and addressing the homeless.

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From a Comstock release:

“I am running for this office because I believe that there is a better way to govern. I believe we owe it to ourselves to be better stewards of the tax dollars that hard working Arkansans contribute to our state budget. By restoring transparency, integrity, and accountability to the State House, we can increase the quality of life for all Arkansans.”

Comstock railed against the culture of corruption in the Republican legislature generally and the Bledsoe family specifically in 2018, but got 38 percent of the vote. It is still true that none of the many Republicans who funneled money to scandal-tainted Ecclesia College have taken any steps to get the money back. Grant Hodges chipped in $5,000.

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