Benton Courier - Runoff ahead: White, Herzfeld in tight race for newest Circuit position

Political newcomer Paul White and former Saline County Prosecutor Robert Herzfeld will meet in a runoff in the Nov. 4 general election to see who will occupy the bench in Circuit Court Division 4.
The Benton residents were separated by fewer than 200 votes in Tuesday’s preferential primary election. White received 4,701 votes, or 46 percent, and Herzfeld collected 4,523 votes, or 44 percent.
Hayward Battle of Bryant was a distant third with 1,012 votes, or 10 percent.
The nonpartisan Division 4 judgeship was created by the Legislature last year to help ease the case load in Saline County.
Both White and Herzfeld seemed to quickly resign themselves to the prospect of a months-long runoff election.
“I’m grateful to be in the runoff. I did not take it for granted,” said White, who called his campaign “a real grassroots movement.”
“It’s a good news and bad news thing,” Herzfeld said of the runoff, “but it will be nice to have the opportunity for a larger turnout in November. I was hoping for a little better turnout in this race, but it was about what we predicted.”
White said his campaign gained momentum in the last two weeks.
“I was hearing good, positive things and I felt like we made a real push late,” he said.
“I ran a poll early that really didn’t tell us a lot and I knew name recognition was an issue, and deservedly so; the Herzfeld family is well known. I think name recognition was the biggest obstacle I had to overcome.”
Herzfeld, 34, served one four-year term as county prosecuting attorney from 2003 to 2006. He was a candidate for state attorney general in 2006, losing in the Democrat primary. He is now in private practice in Benton.
White, 41, has experience as a special judge in Saline County Circuit Court and is a former general counsel for the Arkansas Baptist Foundation. He is in private practice in Bryant.
White had about 300 more votes than Herzfeld in early voting. Herzfeld had about 100 more votes on election day Tuesday.
“We expected a close race,” Herzfeld said.
White said the runoff is “a good opportunity to lay more groundwork. This is not a high finance campaign; this is just people working hard. I think this election was a test of how hard people worked for me. I’m ecstatic.”
Battle called the race “an exhilarating experience,” but said he won’t seek elected office again. “This is my swan song,” he said.
Battle, 57, is a Benton-based attorney for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration’s Office of Child Support Enforcement. He is an ordained elder in the Church of God in Christ and pastors two congregations.
He said he thought he had a chance to earn a spot in a runoff.
“I thought I would have gotten more votes,” he said, adding: “Some people said name recognition was a problem but I didn’t feel that way. Look at Mr. White. Some people thought he might have the same problem and he got the most votes.”

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