Clinard expected big win

Candidate won 67 percent of votes in runoff election

— Bob Clinard of Rogers wasn’t surprised with his big victory over incumbent Dave Bisbee in the Republican runoff for Benton County judge.

“I thought we would win 60 to 40, and it turns out we did better than that,” Clinard said.

Clinard got 10,058 votes (67 percent) to Bisbee’s 4,961 votes (33 percent) June 8.

Former County Judge Gary Black was with Clinard at his watch party at Lifespring Women’s Healthcare in Bentonville when the final results were announced after 11 p.m.

“I was really proud of him,” Black said of Clinard.

Black said he will serve as mentor to Clinard during his first year in office.

Clinard said he will focus his attention on learning all he can about the county judge’s office.

“I am going to go to all the meetings and get caught up on all the things that involve the county, especially the county judge’s office,” Clinard said.

Clinard “ran against a guy that had 16 years in Little Rock and a year and a half in office. (Clinard) is a guy who is not really well known in the political arena and he beat a guywho is, two to one,” Black said.

Bisbee is serving his first term as county judge. He served six years as a state representative and 10 years as a state senator before becoming county judge in 2009.

Bisbee supporter Margaret Watson of Fort Smith said she was not surprised he lost the election.

“I did not expect him to win because of the paper,” Watson said, citing recent coverage of Bisbee’s April arrest and the subsequent trial last week as examples.

Bisbee was arrested April 21 and charged with three misdemeanors based on his handling of county business.

He was found not guilty of two of the three charges June 4. The charges stem from his decision to hire his then-company, Valley Homes, and its vice president, Gary Wierman, to perform remodeling work for the county in December.

A mistrial was declared on the other charge. That charge deals with whether Bisbee used his office and its influence to advance the economic interest of an associate.

Watson said she was grateful for the people who cast ballots for Bisbee on Tuesday.

“It is what it is,” Watson said. “There are almost 5,000 people who think theway that I do, and I think that is a great thing.”

Clinard will face Jeff Broadston of Decatur in the Nov. 2 general election.

Broadston, a write-in candidate, said he knows it will be tough for him to win.

“It is going to be a difficult road, but all I can do is get out there and put my signs up,” Broadston said. “We went from one construction foreman to another construction foreman that is backed by Black, and I do not think that is going to benefit the county.”

Bisbee and Clinard have backgrounds in the construction industry. Bisbee owned Valley Homes in Rogers until he gave the company to Wierman earlier this year. Clinard owns Clinard Construction Management in Bentonville.

Clinard said he will not be involved in the operations of his construction company after he takes office Jan. 1.

“I am going to maintain my business until the end of the year, and then I am going to turn it over to my brother,” Clinard said.

Broadston said he will focus on roads and bridges if he is elected county judge. He also said he could make one promise if elected.

“I can guarantee I am not going to hire my own construction company to do work for the county,” Broadston said.

News, Pages 3 on 06/16/2010