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Mark Hollingsworth defeated Brian Davis in Monday’s Republican runoff to become the next Baxter County sheriff, capturing 58 percent of the vote in a decisive finish to a race that centered on experience, accountability and the future direction of the county’s largest law enforcement agency.
Hollingsworth received 3,278 votes to Davis’ 2,324, a margin of 954 votes, according to unofficial results from the Baxter County Clerk’s office. With no Democratic opposition in November, the runoff result is effectively the general election outcome.
“I’m a little bit overwhelmed,” Hollingsworth told KTLO from a crowded courtroom at the Baxter County Courthouse on Monday night. “We tried to get the same message out since we started, and I think we’ve been very consistent in doing that.”
Hollingsworth, a retired Arkansas State Police major, widened his lead significantly from the March 3 preferential primary, where he topped a three-candidate field with 46 percent of the vote but fell short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Davis finished second in the primary with 40 percent.
In the 28 days between the primary and the runoff, Hollingsworth’s campaign appeared to consolidate support from some voters who had backed eliminated candidate Henry Campfield, a former Flippin police chief who drew about 14 percent of the primary vote. The runoff margin suggests Hollingsworth picked up the bulk of that support along with additional voters who did not cast ballots in the primary.
A consistent message
Hollingsworth credited his volunteers and said the campaign never wavered from the themes that defined his candidacy from the start.
“Whether we’re knocking on doors and putting out signs, whatever the task was, they were ready,” Hollingsworth said of his supporters.
Throughout the campaign, Hollingsworth made his resume the central argument for his candidacy. He 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 served more than 20 years in the Arkansas Army National Guard, including a 2008 deployment to Iraq.
He currently serves as chief deputy at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
At a candidate forum hosted by KTLO earlier in the race, Hollingsworth drew a sharp contrast with his opponents on leadership experience.
“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 during the forum. “I’m not running to learn as I go.”
Voters across the county told Hollingsworth throughout the campaign that they wanted accountability and transparency from the sheriff’s office. Body-worn cameras came up in nearly every conversation, he said during the primary, calling them “the key to transparency in a lot of agencies.”
What comes next
Hollingsworth said Monday night he plans to move quickly. He told reporters he would begin putting together a transition plan in the coming weeks and said he already has candidates in mind for key positions.
“We’re going to start looking at what we want to do,” Hollingsworth said. He referenced having “three very good options” for leadership positions within the office and praised outgoing Sheriff John Montgomery’s more than 20 years of service, saying the foundation Montgomery built would make the transition easier.
Hollingsworth also signaled that staff retention and recruitment will be early priorities. He said he wants to create conditions that turn new hires into long-term employees, including examining insurance rates and other benefits.
Davis, who spent 15 years at the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office and carried Montgomery’s endorsement, built his campaign on continuity and his hands-on experience within the department. He has 34 years of total law enforcement experience, including nearly two decades with the Forrest City Police Department.
Hollingsworth will take office in January 2027. Unofficial results are pending certification, scheduled for April 10.
