Republican state Rep. Bruce Westerman has won a U.S. House seat representing south Arkansas.
Westerman defeated Democrat James Lee Witt and Libertarian Ken Hamilton on Tuesday. The 4th Congressional District seat also includes portions of western Arkansas and is being vacated by Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton. Cotton was elected to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.
Westerman is an engineer and forester from Hot Springs who was state House majority leader last year. He said he was well-positioned to fight what he describes as federal overreach under President Barack Obama. As the top Republican in the state House, Westerman led the unsuccessful fight against the state's "private option" Medicaid expansion.
Witt was director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Bill Clinton and is a former Yell County judge.
