John R. Cooper, is the newest member of the Arkansas State Senate. He is also a retiree from American Telephone and Telegraph in Jonesboro, Arkansas. On January 14, 2014, Cooper won a special election for the District 21 seat from Craighead County in northeastern Arkansas. The seat had opened when the Democrat Paul Bookout of Jonesboro, reelected in 2012 and a former Senate President, resigned in the summer of 2013 under an ethics cloud. With a turnout of approximately 17 percent in the special election, Cooper defeated the Democratic nominee, Steven Eric Rockwell, 4,314 to 3,227. Rockwell manages his family printing and publishing business in Jonesboro and called himself a "centrist" in the race.Democratic Governor Mike Beebe cut ads for the Rockwell campaign. Cooper first defeated two fellow Republicans, Chad Niell and Dan Sullivan, to gain his party endorsement. Cooper also carried the support of the Tea Party movement. Until Bookout's resignation, Cooper had intended to run in 2014 for the District 59 seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives. He lost a race in 2012 for that same House seat against the Democrat Butch Wilkins, who is term-limited in 2014. [More at Wikipedia]

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