Arkansas Senate candidate Rep. Brandon Achor, R-Maumelle, has raised more than nine times the amount of contributions compared to his opponent, Democratic candidate Allison Sweatman of North Little Rock, financial records show.
Both are in a race to succeed term-limited state Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock.
Achor, who is a pharmacist, said his campaign’s direct voter feedback has been encouraging.
It’s a competitive race and “we are working hard to earn every vote,” he said.
Sweatman, a mental health professional, called the contest a close race.
“We are really encouraged by the turnout in the first few days of early voting,” she said. “A victory is in sight, but we are not letting up.”
They are vying in the Nov. 3 general election in Senate District 13. Early voting started Monday and ends on Nov. 2.
During this year’s election cycle, Achor has raised $603,621.66 in contributions, loaned his campaign $15,000 and spent $530,470.07, leaving a balance of $88,151.59 as of Sept. 30, according to his latest campaign finance report filed last week.
Achor, who has served in the state House of Representatives since 2023, beat Mischa Martin of Sherwood in the March 3 primary to win the Republican nomination for the Senate seat.
In contrast, Sweatman has raised $62,588.74 in contributions and spent $38,116.07, leaving a balance of $24,671.59 on Sept. 30, according to latest her campaign finance report filed last week.
She is making her second bid for the state Senate District 13 seat, after losing her challenge to English in the 2022 general election. In the March 3 primary, Sweatman defeated Jason Williams of Sherwood to win the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat.
The Senate district includes all of Maumelle, Morgan west of the Faulkner County line and most of North Little Rock north of Interstate 40 and west of U.S. 67 up to Jacksonville to just below the Little Rock Air Force Base. The northern boundary is below the base and includes part of northern Pulaski County.
Achor said the fact that he raised several times more in contributions than Sweatman means people across the Senate district and the state believe in the work that he can done and the direction that he wants to take in the Senate.
“As a small business owner and pharmacist, I’ve earned support from individuals, local business owners, fellow pharmacists, and organizations that want to lower costs, better access to care, and less red tape,” he said.
Sweatman said nearly half of Achor’s contributions raised came from political action committees and that amounts to be about five times the average per capital income of $43,000 to $44,000 in the Senate district.
The political action committees are not making maximum contributions of $3,500 per election to Achor’s campaign in the hope that he will serve the people in the Senate district well, she said. The political action committees want him to serve their interests, she said.
Pharmacy owners and pharmacists contributed about $54,300 to Achor’s campaign through contributions, and Achor has and will represent his profession, Sweatman said.
Political action committees contributed $258,650 to Achor’s campaign, other certain political action committees contributed $16,331.10 to Achor’s campaign and individuals contributed $290,110, according to the secretary of state’s website. The website shows that Achor’s total contributions raised include $38,530.56 that he transferred from his former House campaign to his Senate campaign.
The political action committees contributing to Achor’s campaign are wide ranging from the Choctaw Nation Senate PAC to the Walmart Inc. PAC for Responsible Government to the Arkansas Health Care Senate PAC.
The PACs contributing to Achor’s campaign also include political action committee affiliated more than several state elected officials. These include PACs affiliated with Republicans Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, Attorney General Tim Griffin, House Speaker Brian Evans of Cabot, Rep. David Ray of Maumelle, Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester of Cave Springs, and Senate President Pro Tempore-designate Breanne Davis of Russellville.
The Capitol Consulting Firm’s political action committees have collectively contributed about$25,000 to Achor’s campaign based on information on the the secretary of state’s website. The Capitol Consulting Firm is the government affairs and political consulting firm founded by former Gov. Asa Hutchinson aide Rett Hatcher.
As a political consultant, the Capitol Consulting Firm has been paid $477,105.33 by Achor’s campaign for campaign expenses ranging from direct mail to advertising to polls to consultant fees, according to the secretary of state’s website.
Achor said that “I care for my patients everyday and am the only candidate in this race who can offer that real in-person accountability to the people of Senate District 13.
“I serve only the people of this district, period,” he said.
As for his campaign contributions from pharmacy owners and pharmacists, Achor said pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers in their communities and that gives them direct insight into the needs of families across the state, and it’s incredibly short sighted for Sweatman to dismiss a group of public health professionals who care for the people that she claims to want to represent.
Individuals contributed $37,558.15 to Sweatman’s campaign, plus $14,371,15 in contributions below the $200 reporting threshold for individual contributions, according to the secretary of state’s website.
Three political action committees contributed a total $4,600 to Sweatman’s campaign and the Pulaski County Democratic Party contributed $3,500 to Sweatman’s campaign according to the secretary of state’s website. The three political action committees are Pro Arkansas Women, Arkansas Committee for Children and Public Education, and the Arkansas State Farm Association PACs. Sweatman also chipped in $2,559.24 to her campaign.
Sweatman said Henry Edwards of Little Rock is her political consultant and Cook Consulting of Little Rock is no longer working for her campaign. Henry Edwards has been paid $567.50 by Sweatman’s campaign and Cook Consulting has been paid $23,353.63 by Sweatman’s campaign, according to the secretary of state’s website.
She said she would have returned the contribution that Achor received from then-state Rep. Austin McCollum, R-Bentonville. Achor reported receiving a $250 contribution from McCollum on Dec. 16, 2025.
McCollum resigned after his Aug. 1 arrest on charges of assaulting his wife. He pleaded not guilty Sept. 8 to domestic battering in the second degree, false imprisonment in the first degree and aggravated assault on a family or household member. McCollum faces no opposition in the Nov. 3 Benton County judge’s election after winning the Republican primary in March.
In response, Achor said the voters want him focused on “real issues like lowering their property taxes, not trying to find whatever new jail mailing address Mr. McCollum regularly finds himself in.”
Former state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, contributed $1,000 to Achor on Sept. 30, according to his campaign finance report. In 2025, Hutchinson received a presidential pardon from his public corruption convictions after serving two years of an eight-year federal prison sentence.
State Rep. Matt Duffield, R-Russellville, has generated the fourth largest total of contributions in this election cycle with $365,246.09 through Sept. 30, according to the secretary of state’s website. At the end of the 2024 campaign, he reported transferring $278,611.09 in contributions to his 2026 campaign.
“I was always told it’s better to have it and not need it than not have it and need it,” Duffield said of campaign funds. “It is always best to be prepared financially for any race that may arise.”
Through Sept. 30, he reported spending $259,943.35, leaving a balance of $112,132.92. His total expenses included $120,179.56 in other advertising, $46,643.65 in consultant fees, $43,667.39 in largely donations to non-profit groups, , $24,208.98 in radio advertising and $11,704.83 in direct mail, according to the secretary of state’s website.
Duffield faces a challenge from Democratic candidate Jennifer Lewter of Russellville in the Nov. 3 general election after surviving a challenge from David Howell of Russellville in the March 3 GOP primary.
Through Sept. 30, Lewter reported raising $3,382.93 in contributions and spending $2,967.02, leaving a balance of $415.91. She could not be reached for comment by telephone on Thursday and Friday.
Mike Wickline covers state politics, and he has covered the state Legislature for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since November 2000. He previously spent several years covering the Idaho Legislature for the Lewiston Morning Tribune.
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