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The race to succeed retiring Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery is headed to a runoff, with Mark Hollingsworth and Brian Davis advancing Tuesday after neither secured a majority of the Republican primary vote, according to unofficial results from the Baxter County Clerk’s office.
Hollingsworth, a retired Arkansas State Police major, led the three-candidate field with 3,346 votes, or roughly 46 percent. Davis, the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office patrol lieutenant and Montgomery’s chosen successor, finished second with 2,917 votes, about 40 percent. Henry Campfield, a 25-year law enforcement veteran and former Flippin police chief, was eliminated with 1,012 votes, just under 14 percent of the total.
Because no candidate cleared the required 50 percent threshold, Hollingsworth and Davis will meet in a runoff election in 28 days.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday night, Davis said the results were roughly what he expected but that there is work ahead.
“We’ve got some work we’ve got to do, but we’re going to get after it and get it done,” Davis said.
Davis said he was not discouraged by trailing Hollingsworth and wanted a chance to reach voters who did not support him Tuesday.
“A little disappointed in some of the numbers, but I mean, I think we can come back, make it happen. I’m not worried about it,” Davis said.
He said he hoped to earn support from across the field heading into the runoff.
“Those that didn’t vote for me, I’d like to have the opportunity to talk to them and see what I can do to earn their vote,” Davis said.
Davis thanked his wife and son, as well as Montgomery and his wife Karen, and made a direct appeal to supporters.
“I just want to ask voters, I need your help again. Come back for the runoff election and vote again. We want to see this sheriff’s office moving forward, and I need their help to make that happen,” Davis said.
He also congratulated Hollingsworth and thanked Campfield for a competitive race.
Davis said the issues voters raised most often on the campaign trail were animal control, jail operations and what overall changes he planned to bring to the department.
Hollingsworth, speaking after results came in with the race still being tallied, said he was confident his campaign had the foundation to win the runoff.
“We have a good group of people helping us get our message out. We worked hard and we’re going to continue to work hard through the next 28 days and make another run at it,” Hollingsworth said.
He said his campaign’s message has been consistent and will remain so going into the runoff.
“We’re pretty confident that our message has been consistent and we’re going to continue to go in that direction,” Hollingsworth said.
Hollingsworth said voters across the county have repeatedly raised the same core concerns since he entered the race.
“It’s been pretty consistent from the voters. They want accountability and transparency,” he said, adding that body-worn cameras came up in nearly every conversation as the most visible symbol of that demand. “That’s kind of the key to transparency in a lot of agencies.”
He said his resume is the argument he will continue to make heading into the runoff.
“Experience is a big deal. The resume is a big thing, and that’s going to allow me to come in here as a working sheriff on day one,” Hollingsworth said.
The two candidates staked out distinct positions on several major issues during the Feb. 11 KTLO forum at the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas, and those differences are likely to define the runoff campaign.
On training, Hollingsworth pointed to what he did at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office after arriving as chief deputy in 2023 and finding deputies had not been to the firing range in two years. He said he pushed the department to an average of 121 hours of in-service training per year.
“That doesn’t mean computerized, where they’re checking the block on the same computer screen they have for the last two or three years,” Hollingsworth said. “That’s out in the field, on active shooter training.”
Davis said he did not plan sweeping changes to the office and that the public is generally pleased with how the department currently operates, but said he would focus on improvements where needed.
Body-worn cameras were a flashpoint at the forum. All three candidates supported adopting them, but they disagreed sharply on cost and logistics. Hollingsworth said his experience negotiating a five-year contract with Axon Corporation for 21 deputies at Marion County gave him a clear picture of what it takes, putting the annual cost at just under $15,000 covering cloud storage, training and the cameras themselves, with equipment swapped out every two years.
Davis acknowledged the cost would be sizable and cited data storage expenses and the potential need for additional staff to manage footage. Mountain Home Police Chief Eddie Griffin’s department spends about $50,000 annually on its body camera program, according to figures raised at the forum.
Dispatch consolidation drew the sharpest contrast between the two. Davis was firmly opposed to moving the sheriff’s office dispatch operation to the county’s 911 center, arguing that dispatchers must remain under the sheriff’s direct control. He noted that dispatchers are dual-trained as jailers and paid through jail tax revenue, meaning a move would require replacing jailers and shifting funding sources.
“Let’s don’t get rid of safety concerns, and let’s don’t get rid of our response time because we’re wondering who’s going to be making the calls,” Davis said at the forum.
Hollingsworth said the current setup, in which dispatchers operate from inside the detention center, is problematic and that the issue should at minimum be explored.
The two candidates also presented sharply different professional backgrounds. Hollingsworth spent 35 years with the Arkansas State Police, retiring in 2021 as a major and commander of the statewide Criminal Investigation Division. He oversaw six CID companies, the Special Investigations Unit, the Arkansas State Fusion Center, the Cold Case Unit, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Digital Evidence Laboratory. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Virginia, and currently serves as chief deputy at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. He also served more than 20 years in the Arkansas Army National Guard, including a 2008 deployment to Iraq with the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
Davis has spent 15 years at the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office and carries Montgomery’s public endorsement. Before coming to Baxter County, Davis spent nearly two decades with the Forrest City Police Department, rising to CID lieutenant and second-in-command of a department overseeing approximately 45 employees and a $2.6 million budget. He has 34 years of total law enforcement experience.
At the forum, Davis made his case for continuity, pointing to his two decades working in a high-crime region of the state.
“I’m the only candidate that has 20 years of actual hands-on experience working in a high-crime part of the state, dealing with crime rates and crimes that Baxter County has never had to face,” Davis said. “I believe that experience is what Baxter County needs to lead the sheriff’s office into the future.”
Hollingsworth countered with the argument he will likely carry into the runoff.
“Candidates have their strengths, but they lack the specific administrative and operational command experience needed to run an organization as large and as vital as the sheriff’s office is to this community,” Hollingsworth said. “I’m not running to learn as I go.”
Montgomery, who has led the office for more than 20 years, endorsed Davis early in the race. His backing helped Davis consolidate support among voters familiar with the current administration, though it was not enough to avoid a runoff.
The runoff is scheduled for March 31. Results are unofficial pending canvassing.
