By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
Like her opponent did 12 years ago, the Lonoke County prosecutor hopes to make the switch from advocate for the people and state to impartial judge.
With less than a week before the election, Prosecutor Lona McCastlain and Circuit Judge Phil Whiteaker are campaigning hard for the Second Division seat Whiteaker now holds.
“I’ve been campaigning since January,” Whiteaker said Tuesday, noting that the election was only seven days away. “I’ve been to about every civic organization in the county and every fish fry. I’ve had a lot of fish,” he added.
In Cabot, Carlisle, Ward, Austin, England, Lonoke, Keo and Humnoke, Whiteaker says he’s shaken hands with voters, telling them that his 12 years on the bench make him the best candidate for judge.
In that time, Whiteaker, who presides mostly over civil, juvenile and drug cases, says he has promoted the use of technology to streamline proceedings and he has been a supporter of CASA, the court appointed special advocates who help abused and neglected children through the court system.
But in addition to his experience, Whiteaker says he has “the temperament to be fair and listen to both sides. People want to have a fair day in court,” he said. “I’ve been doing that for 12 years.”
McCastlain also talks about Whiteaker’s time on the bench, but from a different perspective.
“It’s time to bring in something new,” McCastlain said. “I’ve been over there 15 years (10 as prosecutor). I can bring a fresh look at the job and a passion for the job.”
McCastlain says the circuit court is behind the times in technology. Although some prisoners now make their first court appearance via cameras in the jails, that was only started this year, she said.
More needs to be done, like putting the docket on a computer so changes can be made as needed.
Although the judicial races are non-partisan this year, McCastlain has always run as a Republican in the past and she says if elected she will represent the most conservative values.
McCastlain, Chuck Graham, the assistant prosecutor who is running for Division One judge, and Ken Williams, the lawyer and Cabot alderman who is running for district judge in Cabot, were endorsed Monday night by the Lonoke County Republican Committee.
McCastlain said the rules of ethics do not allow candidates to attack each other. But that hasn’t stopped some Cabot residents from putting out large signs that say McCastlain’s integrity is questionable.
McCastlain attributes the signs to Roger Lemaster and his wife, Becky, a Cabot alderman.
In 2007, McCastlain prosecuted Roger Lemaster’s son, who was convicted of child molestation and sentenced to prison.
Alderman Lemaster said they didn’t pay for the signs.
“My husband helped the woman who put them up because she didn’t have a truck,” Lemaster said.
“She’s a longtime friend of ours and we didn’t have any problem helping her out, because, you know, the signs are kind of right.”
