Arkansas Democrats just elected a new Chair of the Democratic Party of Arkansas! Grant Tennille headed the state’s economic development agency during former Governor Mike Beebe’s administration — now he’s at the helm of the DPA. During his time with Gov. Beebe, Tennille and his team helped secure the largest economic-development investment in the state’s history, Big River Steel. This is GOOD news for Arkansas Democrats headed into 2022.
We’re excited for the leadership moving in to build our Democratic Party of Arkansas and hope you are too. This is an opportunity for us all to get involved, become part of the new team, to get our Party into position to take on Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, and to build for our future. We are in good hands and now is the time to lean in and build together.
Grant got elected at the Party’s State Committee meeting on Saturday, comprised of multiple elected delegates from each county in Arkansas. The news has been getting out this weekend and we’re feeling the love — thank you for the support!
“I’ll leave you with this promise: I will work hard every day; I will unite this Party; I will tell you the truth and I will make you proud to be an Arkansas Democrat,” said DPA Chair Grant Tennille.
Among his supporters was our champion, state Senator Joyce Elliott, and former Gov. Mike Beebe who wrote in a letter of support, “For Grant, there is no job too big, no job too small; he’s trustworthy, capable, and ferociously loyal.”
Let’s Build AR Party Together!
The election of the Party’s new Chair concludes a month-long transition process led by Interim Chair Nicole Hart, who stepped up from Vice Chair following former Chairman Michael John Gray’s acceptance of a position with an election PAC to take on Sarah Huckabee-Sanders.
Tennille spoke with Talk Business & Politics following the election >>>
Tennille criticized Republicans’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and said Democrats should oppose Republican extremists in the Legislature. He said Democrats will support investments in rural infrastructure and will oppose Republican efforts to end the state’s income tax.
“I certainly think that, as it stands right now, we’re the party of facts,” he said. “We’re the party that supports science. We’re the party that thinks that we ought to think rationally about our challenges. And I’m not seeing a whole lot of that from the other side. And so I think it’s incumbent upon us to stand up and tell people what we believe, and I think that there are a strong percentage of Arkansans who agree with us.”
Tennille lives in Little Rock with his wife Rebecca. They have three children: Will, 26; Sarah, 18; and Annie, 16.