Marcus Jones, a former congressional candidate, was chosen by Arkansas Democrats on Saturday to serve as the new chair of the state committee.
Retired Army colonel Jones received 128 votes, compared to 76 for party vice chair Jannie Cotton. After four years as the leader of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, Grant Tenille resigned in mid-July, leaving Cotton as the acting chair.
Cotton, a veteran party activist, is the chair of the national party’s candidate recruitment campaign and has served as the state committee’s vice chair since 2023.
Cotton stated she heard the call for change and that you needed to feel included in her nomination speech, which was delivered to over 200 members of the state committee.
She said, “I’m here to be your voice.” In order for people who are feeling hopeless to feel hopeful, I am also heard to speak for them.
Jones referenced a Bible phrase that states that just as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend through discussion and argument during his acceptance speech on Saturday at the Sheraton Four Points hotel in Little Rock, alluding to the campaign between him and Cotton.
The time has come for us to reunite. He declared, “It’s time for us to go forward and take those Democratic values outside of this room.” Those values are not shared by everyone outside. And it is our responsibility to continue that for Arkansas. For the sake of our country, we must be the ones who do that.
He promised to assist in reaching 70 active county Democratic committees.
We have between fifty-two and fifty-five right now, so we all have some work to do,” Jones stated.
In order to assist recruit and elect more Democrats, he also pledged to create a five-year strategic plan within ninety days that would leverage the abilities of county and auxiliary committees.
“It’s not a plan to raise money and elect Democrats,” he stated in his declaration of candidacy. In order to achieve a long-term objective, the next Chair must create a strategic vision for our party and work with each team member.
According to his profile, Jones has been raising money for Democratic politicians ever since he defeated Rep. French Hill in his congressional campaign last year.
During his opening remarks on Saturday, state representative Andrew Collins of Little Rock commended Tenille’s efforts to rebuild the party, saying that they helped ensure the victory of state representative Diana Gonzales Worthen of Springdale, who became the first Latina in the Legislature and her party’s first net gain in the House in almost 20 years.
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