The primary elections will be held May 23 and early voting begins Monday, May 8. As usual, the Arkansas Times has recommendations.

Arkansas Supreme Court, position 2: The challenger, Roger Harrod, has effectively disqualified himself by injecting demagoguery into a Supreme Court race to a degree not seen since the days of Jim Johnson. In the Lake View decision, the Supreme Court found the Arkansas system of public education both inadequate and inequitable. Harrod says this ruling was an abuse of the Court’s authority. He’s wrong about that — the Arkansas Constitution requires adequate public schools — but even more important, he’s wrong as a candidate to declare a position on a case that is still before the Supreme Court. JUSTICE DONALD CORBIN, the incumbent here, unnecessarily offended legislators with some of his language in the Lake View case, but he voted right, and he is eminently correct in not discussing Lake View, nor any other case before the Court, as part of an election campaign. Vote CORBIN.

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House of Representatives District 31: The primary will decide the issue, as only Republicans are seeking this seat. Though he’s too conservative for us on many issues, DAN GREENBERG looks like the best of the lot. As a member of the Pulaski County Quorum Court, he was a dogged critic of irresponsible spending, and he has promised to work for stricter ethics rules on legislators.

House District 33: We’d love to keep the incumbent, Rep. Joyce Elliott, but term limits won’t let us. Four Democrats (no Republicans) are running to succeed her. Our choice is FRED ALLEN, a businessman with a long record of solid public service on the Little Rock Planning Commission.

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House District 37: Another worthy incumbent, Rep. Sam Ledbetter, is being driven out by term limits. The good news is that four worthy candidates, all Democrats, are seeking the office. JESSE GIBSON, a lawyer, is a strong advocate on a host of progressive issues, including environmental protection; JORDAN JOHNSON, a consultant, did yeoman work in protecting Lake Maumelle from a covetous developer; JERRY LARKOWSKI, a lawyer, labored diligently to clean up the elections mess in Pulaski County; KATHY WEBB, a restaurateur, is a longtime champion of good causes, some of them unpopular. A voter can’t go wrong in this race.

Pulaski County sheriff: DOC HOLLADAY, running in the Democratic primary, is a retired policeman, a proven professional. As a spokesman for the Little Rock Police Department, he was accessible and honest.

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Pulaski County justice of the peace, District 10: WILLIAM “BILLY” GINOCCHIO is a young chef with a passion for public policy.

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