Pulaski County judge allows Pine Bluff mayoral election to proceed

PINE BLUFF, AR - The hugs gave the signal that the November 6th election for Pine Bluff Mayor is on.
For two months, the candidates and citizens didn't know when they would vote after Mayor Carl Redus filed a lawsuit, hoping to stop the election until 2014.

"The judge made his ruling and I've been out campaigning and I will continue to campaign," Mayor Redus said.

The mayor's attorney argued that because the population dipped below 50,000, indicated by the 2010 census, the election cycle should change and hold the incumbent in office until the next election.
The attorneys say they didn't about the law until August, when Redus files the lawsuit against the Governor, Secretary of State, and County Election Commissioners.

"What about those critics who say this is political?” Redus said. “I can't answer what the critics are saying."

But the attorney for candidate Debe Hollingsworth argued the plaintiff's incorrectly interpreted the law, and that cities' election cycles are locked in from the time the law was passed in 1960.

"The people have the right to elect their leader and we felt with this lawsuit that right was being taken away from us," Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth's attorney asked the judge to consider all the candidates and the money spent to run.

"I think people will be ecstatic over this, and I think the election is a pivotal point for this city," Holingsworth said.