L-66’s Richard Carroll, Arkansas state legislator
Arkansas state rep tops Green Party ranks
Editor’s Note: On April 29, Carroll announced his intention to leave the Green Party to become a Democrat.
RICHARD CARROLL, A 30-year member of Railroad Local Lodge 66 (Little Rock, Ark.) has gone green — not in the environmental sense but rather the political one. Carroll, 53, is the state representative for District 39 in North Little Rock, representing the Green Party. He was elected last November in a race that saw the Democratic candidate disqualified. Carroll ran as a “Green” so his name would appear on the ballot. (He would have been required to run as a write-in candidate in order to seek the office as a Democrat.)
Carroll was endorsed by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which wrote: “If there’s an honest, down-to-earth straight-shooter on this year’s ballot, Richard Carroll seems to be it.” Now Carroll is the highest-ranking Green in the United States, and only the third Green Party candidate to ever hold a state-level position. He has already succeeded in getting a bill passed, HB 1246, making it easier for third-party candidates to get on the ballot in Arkansas. He has another bill in the works to help hearing-impaired children.
Although he had not held a public office previously, Carroll served Local 66 as vice president, secretary-treasurer, and chairman. “I’ve also been involved in organizing, and that has helped me in preparing for public office,” he said.
Formerly a construction Boilermaker, Carroll transferred to the Railroad Division in 1993. He now helps rebuild locomotives for Union Pacific at the yards in North Little Rock — that is, when he’s not writing legislation.
