Steve Womack

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack filed paperwork Wednesday at the state Capitol to seek reelection in the 2026 elections.

The Republican from Rogers has served in Congress since 2011.

He is one of 19 candidates for state and federal office who filed Wednesday to run for election in the 2026 elections, according to the secretary of state’s website.

Womack touted an endorsement from President Donald Trump on X earlier this week.

He is the third candidate to file to run for Arkansas’ 3rd congressional district seat since the candidate filing period began. On Monday, the first day of filing, Robb Ryerse of Springdale and Diana Lawrence of Van Buren filed paperwork to seek the Democratic nomination for the congressional seat.

The primary election will be March 3 and the general election will be Nov 2. If needed, the runoff election for the primary will be March 31.

In 2024, Womack survived a primary challenge from state Sen. Clint Penzo, a Republican from Springdale.

Whether he expects a Republican opponent in the 2026 primary, Womack said he prefers not to think too hard about developments beyond his control.

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard of any, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be,” he said in an interview. “I am more concentrated on what I am doing rather (than)b what anybody else is doing and that’s how I always approach my work.”

Womack said he didn’t pursue the endorsement from Trump.

“But I welcome the endorsement,” he said. “He is the titular head of the Republican Party and his endorsement carries a significant amount of weight. There is no question about that.”

Amid the federal government shutdown, Womack said that he’ll see how the next few days unfold.

“I was hopeful that maybe some of the hesitancy on the part of the Democrats to want to sign on to end the shutdown was hinged on yesterday’s elections in Virginia, New Jersey, New York (and) California,” he said Wednesday.

“If that is the case, then we ought to see white smoke sometime late this week or the weekend,” Womack said.

If he’s reelected, he said he will “continue to promote a limited government, lower taxes, fewer regulations, a strong national defense, protections of life and a host of other principles that I believe have created the greatest country on the face of the planet.”

As of late Wednesday, 329 candidates have filed to run for state and federal offices after factoring in the nonpartisan candidates who submitted petitions of registered voters in September to run for office in lieu of paying filing fees, according to the secretary of state’s website. This includes 126 Republicans, 48 Democrats and 155 nonpartisan candidates.

On Monday, Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and Democratic candidate Hallie Shoffner, both of Little Rock, filed paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate seat, which is currently held by Cotton.

U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, and Democratic candidates Chris Jones and Zack Huffman, both of Little Rock, also filed their papers on Monday to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat.

In addition, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Hot Springs, filed to run for reelection in the 4th Congressional District on Monday.

On Wednesday, Jacob Allen of Bentonville is among the candidates who filed for state and federal office.

Alongside his family, he filed to seek the Democratic nomination for the House District 10 seat. District 10 includes part of Benton County.

The House District 10 seat is currently held by Rep. Mindy McAlindon, R-Centerton, who filed for reelection on Monday, according to the secretary of state’s website.

Allen recently retired after more than 20 years of service in the Army National Guard. According to his public LinkedIn profile, he has also worked for Walmart for 15 years, currently holding the role of senior emergency partner for Walmart Realty.

He said he’s running for office to advocate for the people of his district, particularly on issues of affordability, including cost of living, healthcare and childcare.

“Upon retiring, I knew that I had a calling to do more,” Allen said Wednesday.

In addition, Mitchell Smith of Bentonville filed Wednesday to run as a Democrat in House District 13. District 13 includes part of Benton County. State Rep. Scott Richardson, R-Bentonville, currently represents House District 13. He filed Monday to seek reelection.

“For a long time, about 10 years now, the state has been under the control of the Republican Party and Northwest Arkansas is doing pretty good, but I think we could do better,” said Smith, who is replenishment and inventory solutions manager at Walmart.

“We have been kind of backsliding in education and the cost of living, and I want to do my best to try to help to improve that status,” he said.

The party filing period will end at noon Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the state Capitol, with no candidate filing on Tuesday because of the Veterans Day holiday, according to the secretary of state’s office. The period for nonpartisan judicial candidates to pay their filing fees and file their political practices pledge will end at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, with a similar pause for the holiday on Tuesday, according to the secretary of state’s office.

This story has been updated. It was originally published at 12:10 p.m. under the headline "Womack submits paperwork for reelection bid on third day of candidate filing at the Arkansas Capitol."