Steve Womack

Whoever is elected in November to represent Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District will have plenty of issues to address in Washington, including the Iran war, immigration and the nation’s budget. Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Womack is vying for a ninth term in Congress and said he still has the energy, passion and drive to continue serving the district. The 69-year-old incumbent from Rogers faces challenges from Springdale Democrat Robb Ryerse and Bentonville Libertarian Bobby Wilson . Womack defeated Wilson in the 2024 general election and Ryerse in the 2018 Republican primary. All three candidates agreed it’s time to end the war in Iran, which has increased gas prices , an additional strain for Arkansans struggling with the rising cost of groceries . Womack said he believes the United States has achieved its objectives in the conflict, including taking out Iran’s ballistic missile capability and degrading the country’s capacity to develop a nuclear weapon. “It’s time for that conflict to end, that we can get oil flowing through that Strait of Hormuz, give relief to the rest of the world and move on to the bigger threats out there,” he said. “And I think the pacing threat really right now is China and what’s happening in the Pacific .” Wilson, chief operations officer of a trim and door company, said he is against the war and “being the world’s police force.” “Even if Iran is one of the worst governments, which I think they are, I just think it’s not our job,” he said. Ryerse, a 51-year-old pastor of a nondenominational church and director of development for a nonprofit working to end chronic homelessness, said to lower the costs of everything, the U.S. needs to end the Iran war and address tariffs President Donald Trump has levied since returning to office in 2025. “If there’s anything economists hate, it’s uncertainty, so Congress needs to take back its tariff authority from the president so that we could have some predictability in our economy again,” Ryerse said. A resolution to curb the president’s military action in Iran that the U.S. House approved last month failed in the Senate. Womack did not vote on the resolution, which was debated the week of his mother’s death . The Republican joined Arkansas’ Congressional delegation in voting against previous versions of the resolution earlier this year. Immigration A crackdown on immigration has been a hallmark of Trump’s second term. Womack agrees with “deporting criminal aliens,” but said there have been “unfortunate” outcomes in places like Minnesota. A surge of immigration enforcement in January in Minneapolis led to community protests where federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens . Arkansas grassroots initiatives that formed following Trump’s election have been critical of immigration enforcement in the state, which is often precipitated through partnerships between municipalities and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Womack said he supports going after the “worst of the worst,” bu