The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that a couple of new names could enter the mayor’s race, based on people who’ve picked up the packets necessary to gather signatures to get on the ballot.

They are Vincent Tolliver, an active Democrat who once sought the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee and who ran unsuccessfully for 4th District Congress in 1996, and C.E. Williams. He wasn’t further identified, but I’m guessing he could be a local preacher, Bishop Charles E. Williams. If I’m correct, both new entrants are African-Americans, which figures in the demographic aspects of the race. The city is 40 percent black, roughly, and often votes in racially identifiable patterns, but the black voter turnout typically falls below their percentage of the population.

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Until now, the announced candidates were Frank Scott Jr., a black banker and former highway commissioner, and two white candidates, state Rep. Warwick Sabin and businessman and former Little Rock School Superintendent Baker Kurrus.

I’m hearing an explosion of interest, too, in the Ward 1 seat held by 87-year-old Erma Hendrix. But if five or six opponents emerge, that could prove helpful to her.

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A 40 percent vote is necessary to win the race without a runoff.

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