Justice Nick Bronni, appointed to the Arkansas Supreme Court by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders just over a year ago, opened the evening as the featured guest. He reminded attendees that his race is nonpartisan and that the only election for his seat will be held March 3. “There is no November election, only March 3rd,” he said. “The one thing I always tell people they should remember about me, if nothing else, other than my election date and my name, is this: I probably sued Joe Biden more than anybody else in the state of Arkansas.”
Before joining the court, Bronni served as Arkansas Solicitor General, which he described as “basically the state’s top courtroom lawyer, the person the Attorney General trusts to handle the most important, the most critical and most controversial cases.” He said that role included leading or co‑leading multistate lawsuits against federal actions he characterized as unlawful. “We sued Joe Biden when he broke the law,” he said.
Bronni emphasized his judicial philosophy early and often. “I’m an originalist,” he said. “That means that I read the Constitution as the framers would have originally understood that document. I don’t believe in updating the Constitution to reflect my personal beliefs or modern social policy.” If the Constitution needs updating, he said, “there’s a way to do that. It’s called the amendment process, but judicial fiat is not a way of updating the Constitution.”
He also highlighted his work defending Arkansas laws in federal court, including the state’s prohibition on contractors participating in anti‑Israel boycotts and a bipartisan law regulating pharmacy benefit managers. He noted that he personally argued and won cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including against PBMs. “I won that case in the United States Supreme Court, eight‑nothing, handing the PBMs their first major defeat,” he said.
In another case, he said he led a bipartisan coalition of 32 states in a dispute with Delaware over unclaimed property, winning nine‑to‑nothing and securing “about a quarter of a billion dollars for our constituent sister states.”
He also spoke of suing President Biden with several other Republican-led states to stop Biden's attempts at student loan relief. "I didn't ask Joe Biden to force the people in this room to pay off my student loans. In fact, just the opposite. I co-led the eight state legal teams that brought President Biden's illegal attempt to cancel student debt, and persuaded the US Supreme Court to put an end to that."
Bronni said that when he joined the Arkansas Supreme Court, he brought with him a mission to simplify legal writing. “I don’t write lawyer gibberish,” he said. “I write in English, and you can visit the Supreme Court’s website and see that I write in plain, simple English, because I think anybody in this room who is not a lawyer should be able to pick up one of my decisions, read it, [and] know exactly what your rights are without needing to hire a lawyer.”
Audience members asked Bronni a series of questions. Former Arkansas Senate candidate Mark Silvey asked how Bronni interprets the Arkansas Constitution’s opening declaration that “all political power is inherent in the people.” Bronni responded, “I read the text with the assumption that people have liberty unless it’s specifically delineated elsewhere. There’s a backstop of liberty. That’s the backdrop that we all come with.” He added that ignoring constitutional text “defeats the point of having a written constitution.”
Silvey expressed concern that government at all levels has drifted from prioritizing the people’s rights. Bronni replied by contrasting the current court with the one he encountered when he returned to Arkansas in 2016. “We had one of the most liberal Supreme Courts in the entire country,” he said. “It wasn’t until the governor just made two appointments [that] our court flipped. We have a conservative majority for the first time ever on the Arkansas Supreme Court.”
Another attendee asked how Bronni planned to counter the advantage of his opponent John Adams’ “simple name,” which the attendee feared might mislead voters into assuming he is the conservative candidate. Bronni said his campaign was working to overcome that. “We’ve done everything we can,” he said. “We’re up on broadcast, we’re up everywhere…take a pamphlet…share it with your friends.” He added that his title—Arkansas Supreme Court Justice—will appear on the ballot, which he believes will help.
This reporter asked whether a member of the Arkansas Supreme Court should be “an avowed partisan,” noting that Bronni’s remarks and record appeared to favor one party’s stance. Bronni replied, “I’m not an avowed partisan. I don’t care what the political party of anybody in this room is. I’m simply pointing out what my record is and what my opponent’s [record is]. The only one who’s ever run for partisan office [in this race] … is my opponent.”
Another questioner asked Bronni about citizenship requirements and federal versus state control of elections. Bronni said judicial ethics rules prevented him from answering certain election‑policy questions directly. “I’d love to be able to answer a question like that, but I end up getting into pretty serious ethical problems,” he said. He did note that “as a general matter, elections are regulated by states,” though federal statutes govern federal offices.
Bronni departed shortly afterward for another engagement.
Following Bronni’s exit, Wade Kimmel, candidate for Eighth Judicial North Division II Circuit Judge for Hempstead and Nevada counties, introduced himself. Kimmel has practiced law for nearly 30 years, including 19 years in private practice in Texarkana and the last eight years with the Office of Child Support Enforcement in Hope. He described a career that has taken him into courts across Arkansas and into federal courts in both Arkansas and Texas. “I can’t promise that I’ve been in every single courthouse in Arkansas, but I’ve been in most of them,” he said.
Kimmel detailed his academic background, noting that he earned a 4.0 GPA in both his undergraduate and master’s degrees in history before graduating in the top 10 of his law‑school class at University of Arkansas Fayetteville Law School. He said his legal work has ranged from “multi‑million‑dollar class action lawsuits all the way down to dividing up the pots and pans in divorces.”
He explained that he left private practice because “I was working seven days a week, long hours, and I was missing my kids growing up.” His current position working for Arkansas Child Support Enforcement, he said, allows him to spend more time with his family. He also noted his family’s involvement in the community, including his daughter’s Eagle Scout project—the butterfly mural downtown—and his son’s Eagle project renovating the First United Methodist Church youth building.
Asked what a circuit judge does, Kimmel said the position oversees the broadest jurisdiction in Arkansas courts. “Circuit court in Arkansas is extremely broad,” he said. “There’s five filing divisions—civil, criminal, domestic relations, probate and juvenile. …Basically, circuit court gets everything.” He contrasted circuit court with district court, which handles misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims. “If you’re unhappy with the results you get in district court, you can appeal it [and] start all over in circuit court,” he said.
Steve Atchley, chair of the Hempstead County Republican Party and himself running unopposed for a new term as Justice of the Peace on the Hempstead County Quorum Court, raised concerns about what he called a “major crisis” in juvenile crime and the lack of parental involvement. “It’s not always a kid’s fault,” Atchley said. “There’s no mom and daddy’s raising these children.”
Kimmel agreed that parental responsibility is central. “If you have kids being dragged into juvenile court. …Mom and Daddy need to be there,” he said. “That needs to be the first question—what’s going on in the household?” Atchley said many children are being raised by parents who “have never matured,” or by grandparents, and that some “have never had a chance.” He urged Kimmel to raise the issue at judicial conferences.
Kimmel said the problems of juvenile delinquency, mental‑health needs and substance abuse are intertwined. “A lot of times, all three of them are combined. They come from the same place,” he said. He noted that treatment options are limited and often too short. “Most of the studies I’ve seen say. …treatment for a year” is needed for meaningful recovery.
Atchley added that counties are financially strained, with mental health detainees sometimes held in jail for lack of placement options. Kimmel acknowledged the strain: “Those are issues that … we’re going to have to get some [solutions for]. It’s getting attention, but like everything in this world, it costs money.”
Another attendee argued that the drug problem is “a supply problem” and suggested law enforcement knows where drugs originate locally. Kimmel declined to speak for police but said, “People have a lot of different opinions on [that].” Another attendee added, “I wouldn’t disagree with that,” drawing laughter.
When this reporter asked Kimmel what areas of judicial discretion allow different circuit judges to diverge in how they handle cases, Kimmel emphasized that the breadth of the office itself creates room for variation. He noted that because “circuit court gets everything,” judges inevitably develop different approaches to managing their dockets, handling litigants and structuring proceedings.
Judges can also choose whether to accept, increase or decrease the severity of sentences for crimes, Kimmel said. They can also differ with one another on the extent to which they recommend mediation, which can save precious docket space as well as money in legal fees for would-be litigants. Kimmel said he favored this option, having seen quicker resolutions and more satisfying outcomes.
Early voting has already begun for the March 3rd primary and registered voters can come to their respective county courthouses up to March 2nd to cast votes. On March 3rd various precincts will open throughout all Arkansas counties.
