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Endorses Brenda
The race
Little Rock, Arkansas's capital, elects its mayor on November 3, 2026. The race is a two-person contest: two-term incumbent Frank Scott Jr., seeking a third term, against Brenda "B.J." Wyrick, the city's vice mayor and a city director since 1994, who gave up her board seat to run. Scott was first elected in 2018 — the city's 73rd mayor and its first popularly elected Black mayor — after service in Governor Mike Beebe's administration, on the Port of Little Rock board, and on the Arkansas Highway Commission. In 2022 he won with 49.8%, clearing the 40% threshold to avoid a runoff against car dealer Steve Landers (40%).
The campaign has run on crime, basic services, and infrastructure. Scott runs to "finish the job"; Wyrick runs on "we can do better" — police staffing, police cars, potholes, drainage, and parks.
Frank Scott Jr. — Incumbent. Scott's signature claims, stated by his campaign and checked against the reporting below: more than 14,000 jobs created under his administration; over the last five years versus the prior five, homicides down 64%, violent crime down 15%, and overall crime down 14%; a police union contract with 5% annual raises lifting starting patrol pay to almost $61,000, which his administration calls the highest municipal police pay in Arkansas; almost 600 affordable homes developed with groundwork for roughly 2,000 more; the city's first chief education officer; a MicroHome Village for homeless residents; and a Mobile Market bringing fresh food to food deserts. His October 1 plan, "Little Rock 2030: Forward Together," pledges more early-intervention violence prevention, an expanded Real-Time Crime Center "with strong community oversight," and free gun-lock distribution. Credits documented in office, not just claimed: the police contract extension through 2027 with guaranteed raises was announced jointly with the Fraternal Order of Police, and Little Rock was named to LinkedIn's 2026 list of the nation's top 25 fastest-growing cities for jobs. The dirt column is also real. Scott pushed a sales-tax increase for his agenda; an earlier sales-tax attempt failed with voters, and the tax framework became a recurring fight of his tenure. Wyrick, his own vice mayor, accuses him in the campaign of cherry-picking crime statistics, of not being transparent with the board, and of letting neighborhoods and the city's appearance deteriorate. Those are an opponent's charges — labeled as such — but the potholes, drainage, and police-staffing complaints she runs on are the same basic-services complaints Scott's own 2030 plan promises to fix.
Brenda "B.J." Wyrick — Challenger. Wyrick has represented Ward 7 on the Board of Directors since 1994 — more than 30 years — through redistricting that moved the ward from the south and southwest to the northwest. She is in her third term as vice mayor, is retired from Southwestern Bell and the Arkansas Department of Information Systems, served earlier on the planning commission and board of adjustment, and with her husband Phil — a former state representative and state senator — raises grass-fed cattle at Esquire Land & Cattle. Her platform, in her own words: a dedicated funding amount for infrastructure, more police staffing and cars, and treating citizens "like customers" — "I've been in customer service my entire life [and] we're not treating our citizens like customers." She says she is running because she has "noticed a decline in our basic services for citizens." Her credit is unmatched institutional knowledge of the city she asks to run. Her debit is symmetrical and voters should weigh it: for three decades she sat on the board that oversaw the same services she now says declined, and she governed inside the administration she criticizes for opacity.
Pros and cons
Scott: Pros: A documented crime decline on his own five-year comparison (homicides −64%, violent crime −15%), the state's top municipal starting police pay under a signed union contract, 14,000-plus jobs on his count, and national job-growth recognition for the city. Cons: A Democrat whose governing program runs through tax increases voters have already rejected once; basic services — streets, drainage, staffing — are the challenger's whole case, and they are complaints his own plan concedes by promising to fix them; his vice mayor's transparency charge comes from inside his government. Wyrick: Pros: Thirty-plus years on the board, three terms as vice mayor, and a campaign aimed squarely at public safety staffing and infrastructure — the basics — with a dedicated-infrastructure-funding pledge. Cons: She is a co-owner of the record she attacks; no executive record separate from the board's; her case is a critique more than a costed program in the material retrieved.
Record gaps
- Scott's job and housing totals are his administration's figures, reported by Arkansas Money & Politics from his statements; they were not independently audited in this pass and are priced as campaign-stated above.
- No standalone campaign platform document for Wyrick beyond her launch statements and interviews was retrieved; her positions are sourced to those statements.
OUR CALL
Our call: endorse Brenda (B.J.) Wyrick. Neither candidate is a conservative, and we do not pretend otherwise. The choice is between an incumbent Democrat whose answer to the city's problems has repeatedly been a bigger tax ask, and a 30-year director running on police staffing, streets, drainage, and customer-service basics. Scott's crime numbers are real progress and we credit them in full above; they do not erase the basic-services decline his own vice mayor documents from inside his government, or a governing instinct that reaches for a sales-tax increase first. Wyrick's unproven-mayor posture is a watch item, not a demerit — and three decades on the board means she cannot claim surprise at what the job holds.
Vote Wyrick.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website. Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same. --- Sources — - Arkansas Money & Politics — "'Finish the Job' or 'We Can Do Better' — Crime, Infrastructure Main Topics for LR Mayoral Candidates" (backgrounds, platforms, Scott's job/crime/housing claims, Wyrick's charges) — https://armoneyandpolitics.com/little-rock-mayoral-candidates/ - Arkansas Money & Politics — "BJ Wyrick Launches Bid for Little Rock Mayor" (July 30, 2026; police staffing, police cars, potholes, dedicated infrastructure funding) — https://armoneyandpolitics.com/wyrick-bid-little-rock-mayor/ - Frank Scott Jr. campaign — "Little Rock 2030: Forward Together" plan announcement, Oct. 1, 2026 — https://www.frankscottjr.com/news - City of Little Rock — Mayor Scott statement on the sales-tax framework — https://littlerock.gov/statement-from-mayor-frank-scott-jr/
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.