Regional Industry & News

Once in a blue moon, someone new bursts onto the scene – challenging old assumptions and offering a new vision of what is possible.

Hallie Shoffner is bringing that energy to her race for the United States Senate. Her simple promise, to put "Arkansas First," has awakened something in Arkansans all across our state. She's built a movement, and that human momentum has carried her to the doorstep of an astounding victory. She will win, if we believe.

My campaign slogan when I ran for governor was "Believe in Arkansas." I always have and always will, so Hallie's focus on representing Arkansas, not a political party or special interests, convinced me that she has the right stuff to get the job done.

Although several generations separate us, Hallie and I share deep Jackson County roots, and we both graduated from Newport High School. I was born in the small town of Amagon, just down the road from where the Shoffner family farmed for generations. Everyone in the area knew the Shoffners as "good people"--a hard-working family with the stamina and grit required to sustain a small family farm.

Two years ago, Hallie was the primary operator of Shoffner Farms, but when the farm crisis we're suffering now took hold, she was forced to shutter the farm to protect her family legacy from foreclosure. Her frustration led her to the race for the Senate, and her battle cry swept her onto the front page of Arkansas newspapers: "If I can't farm, I'll fight for Arkansas!"

For the past 18 months, Hallie has traveled the state, organizing public meetings wherever she goes. She finds energy meeting everyday Arkansans face-to-face and listening to their life stories, both the victories and the struggles.

Most people don't want to watch your TV ads. They want to know you. They want to know you see them, that you're listening to them, and that you understand their values and perspectives. As a farmer from a rural corner of our small state, Hallie knows what it's like to feel unseen, unheard and forgotten. She's showing us, every day, that we deserve better representation in Washington than we have now.

Really listening to Arkansans has kept Hallie focused on the most important issues in this race: the economy and the cost of living crisis--prices for fuel, groceries, housing and health care. As a farmer, Hallie understands that agriculture forms the foundation of Arkansas' economy; if our farmers are declaring bankruptcy at a record pace, lowering prices on the things we all need will be next to impossible.

I learned long ago that in Arkansas, farming is economic development, all about jobs, many jobs. The farm crisis is an economic-development problem, and she has lived it. When a sixth-generation farmer runs the numbers six different ways and can't find a profit, that's not a failure of hard work. That's a failure of policy, and it can be fixed.

Hallie has a real plan to fix what's been broken, and that plan is rooted in Arkansas values: hard work, community, integrity, and opportunity.

Hallie will work with anybody who'll work for Arkansas. "I don't care which political party proposes it; if it's good for Arkansas, I'll support it," Hallie has said. That's not a sentiment we hear much any more in politics, but Hallie knows to rely on the most experienced, brightest people to work together to solve problems. That's how you build the bipartisan support it's going to take to turn this country around.

In the end, a senator's job is to show up for constituents. You don't win the support of the people from Washington, D.C. You win it by showing up in good years and bad, in election years and off years.

Hallie has been showing up all over Arkansas, every day. Her opponent hasn't held a town hall meeting in nine years, and his campaign is almost totally dependent on deceptive TV ads paid for by dark-money special interests. For the record, Hallie is neither a socialist nor a communist. She's a real Arkansan: a farmer, a mother, a daughter, a wife, a small-business woman and a fighter who will deliver on her promises.

Reading today's headlines, it can be difficult to see the way forward, difficult to find the hope required for the rebuilding that's ahead. We can fix it though, if we put Arkansas first and work together.

Twenty years ago, I asked you to Believe in Arkansas. Today, I'm asking you to show the world that you still believe in our state and her people. Vote for Hallie Shoffner for the U.S. Senate.

Mike Beebe is a politician and attorney who served as the 45th governor of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015.

This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.

Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2026, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. All rights reserved.