Disagreements at a recent meeting of the Saline County Republican Committee escalated into a fistfight Thursday evening. This comes amid ongoing ideological tensions within the group.
At the meeting, radio host Jimmie Cavin punched Saline County resident Jon Newcomb. The fight broke out at the Benton Senior Citizens Center after a disagreement over weather to validate a special meeting. It was captured on camera by attendee Kenneth Wallis and live streamed on the video platform Rumble. He said in the video that he planned to give the footage to the police who are investigating the incident.
At an August 26 meeting, committee members voted overwhelmingly to expel Justice of the Peace candidates Stephanie Johnson, Scott Gray, Allison Gray and Angela Gray. The decisions were made “pending an investigation.” Another motion to censure Chairman Frank Curtis did not pass.
At the meeting, conservative attorney Clint Lancaster called the expelled members “toxic.” His wife Jennifer Lancaster, who was the chair of the recent Republican Party convention, said they had displayed “egregious behavior," saying they had made up false allegations against fellow committee members. The couple have been very outspoken amid ongoing changes and conflict within the state party at large. Jennifer Lancaster has claimed that the Arkansas Republicans are run by the “establishment” and not by the “people.”
The fight happened after Chairman Frank Curtis attempted to throw out the decisions made at a special meeting, claiming it broke RPA’s own rules. Lancaster told the members that their decision not to approve the meeting was “breaking the rules."
When the fight happened, Stephanie Gray was at the microphone beginning to speak. Cavin threw the first punch at Newcomb. Members of the committee then swarmed around the two men. In the video, Newcomb is seen walking away from the fight with blood on his face while Cavin's shirt is visibly torn.
During the fight, Curtis tried to motion an adjournment to the meeting. He ended the meeting on the second attempt after the first voice vote failed.
Cavin is also a host of the Dave Elswick Show on local radio station 101.1 The Answer. He was not on the show Friday morning. Benton Police are investigating the incident.
The event comes after the Saline County Republican Committee was kicked out of their regular meeting space. Former state party Chair Doyle Webb owns the building and leads the Republican Party of Saline County, a separate group made up of many committee members.
Webb was allowing the Saline County Republican Committee to meet in the building he owned. He evicted the group over ideological disagreements and allegations they were not paying insurance.
