Lance Eads

Lance Ronaco Eads (born August 5, 1968)[1] is a businessman from West Fork in Washington County in northwestern Arkansas, who has been since 2017 a Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate for District 7. Earlier, from 2015 to 2017, he was a one-term member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for District 88 in Washington County.[2]

Lance Ronaco Eads
Arkansas State Senator for the 7th District
Incumbent
Assumed office January 9, 2017
Preceded by	Jon Woods
Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from the 88th district
In office January 12, 2015 – January 9, 2017
Preceded by	Randy Alexander
Succeeded by	Clint Penzo
Personal details
Born	August 5, 1968
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Kim Hufford Eads
Children	Two children
Parents	Vol Leroy and Joyce Gail Eads
Residence	West Fork, Washington County Arkansas, USA
Alma mater	Prairie Grove High School Ouachita Baptist University
Occupation	Businessman

Background

Eads is the son of Vol Leroy and Joyce Gail Eads of Fayetteville, Arkansas. He graduated from Prairie Grove High School in Prairie Grove in Washington County. In 1992, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in professional education from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia in Clark County in southern Arkansas. He resides with his wife, the former Kim Hufford, and their two children in Springdale, Arkansas Washington County.[2][3] In 2003, he was named a business development manager for a federal credit union; in 2010, he joined the Springdale Chamber of Commerce and has served as a vice president of the organization.[3] He previously resided in Farmington, and Fayetteville in Washington County.[1]

Eads is a Southern Baptist and a member of the mega-church, The Cross Church in Washington County,[2] also known as the First Baptist Church of Springdale; the pastor is Ronnie Floyd, the 2014 president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Political life

Eads (second from right) at a groundbreaking ceremony

From 2011 to 2012, Eads was a justice of the peace in Washington County. In 2014, he unseated in the low-turnout Republican primary election the one-term incumbent, Randy Alexander, also of Springdale, 1,137 to 817 votes (58-42 percent). Eads then ran without opposition in the November 4 general election.[4] Eads was assigned to the House committees on: (1) Public Transportation, (2) City, County and Local Affairs, and (3) Joint Performance Review.[2] In February 2015, Eads joined dozens of his fellow Republicans and two Democrats in co-sponsoring legislation submitted by Representative Lane Jean of Magnolia, to reduce unemployment compensation benefits. The measure was promptly signed into law by Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson.[5]

That same month, Eads supported House Bill 1228, sponsored by Bob Ballinger of Carroll County, which sought to prohibit government from imposing a burden on the free exercise of religion.[6] The measure passed the House, seventy-two to twenty.[7] One of the opponents, Democratic Representative Camille Bennett, a former city attorney for Lonoke, Arkansas, called for a reworking of the legislation.[8] Bennett claimed the Ballinger bill would establish a "type of religious litmus test" which could impact nearly any law under consideration by the legislature.[9] The measure was subsequently passed by a large margin in the House and signed into law in revised form, SB 975, by Governor Hutchinson.[10]

References

1. "Lance Ronaco Eads". Intelius.com. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
2. "Lance Eads". arkansashouse.org. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
3. "Lance Eads". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
4. "District 88". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
5. "HB 1489 - Reduces Unemployment Benefits - Key Vote". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
6. "HB 1228". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
7. "HB 1228". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
8. "Indiana, Arkansas try to stem religious objections uproar". Atlantic Broadband. April 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
9. "Opponents of Religious Freedom Bill Point Out Law Differences, Possible Unintended Consequences". Little Rock, Arkansas: Fox Channel 16. April 1, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
10. "Gov. Hutchinson signs revised religious freedom bill; HB 1228 recalled". Little Rock: KTHV-TV. April 2, 2015. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2015.