Early returns indicated John Kearney was in good position to win a third term as State District 29, Division 2 judge in a race against Pine Bluff lawyer Efrem B. Neely Sr.
Through early and absentee voting results, as well as those from 17 of 33 polling sites, results were:
Kearney4,129
Neely1,848
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Kearney received 60 absentee votes to Neely’s 28, but those numbers were expected to increase as some absentee votes would be recounted due to a processing error. Kearney notched 2,330 votes to Neely’s 1,122 through early voting, leaving Kearney with a 1,739-698 edge on Election Day from the four polling sites.
Kearney was first elected in 2016, when he ran unopposed.
A married father of five, Kearney received his juris doctorate from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1974 and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and University of Arkansas at Monticello for 40 years.
Neely has been a judge before, serving as a special judge in Jefferson County Circuit and Pulaski County District courts.
Kearney