Chenoa Summers
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Chenoa Summers (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Arkansas State Senate to represent District 20. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Summers completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Chenoa Summers was born in Newport, Arkansas. She earned a bachelor's degree from Arkansas State University in 2012 and a graduate degree from Arkansas State University in 2014. Her career experience includes working as a botany research assistant.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Arkansas State Senate elections, 2022
General election
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Chenoa Summers advanced from the Democratic primary for Arkansas State Senate District 20.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Dan Sullivan advanced from the Republican primary for Arkansas State Senate District 20.
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chenoa Summers completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Summers' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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For the past several years, Chenoa Summers worked in academia as an adjunct instructor of science and the Director of the Student Success Center at UACCB. She returned to undergraduate studies as a student last year. Currently, she works as a research scientist in a botany lab. Most notably in the last ten months, she joined the fight against censorship of our local library. She is a member of Human Rights Campaign, the Democratic Party of Craighead County, the Arkansas Native Plant Society, Phi Beta Kappa, NAACP Craighead County Chapter, Friends of the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library, A-State Young Democrats, NEA Young Professionals, and the Arkansas Forestry Association.
Summers is running on three core tenets: life, liberty, and love. She will advocate for a living wage and better quality of life for residents in her district. She will fight to protect our current liberties and advocate expanding them to codify reproductive freedom, the right to vote, the right to read, and legalization of marijuana. Lastly, she will defend the right to choose who we love, as she is committed to standing up to demagogues at the state capitol trying to pass anti-transgender legislation.
- Life - improve quality of life
- Liberty - protect existing rights and liberties and expand them at the state level
- Love - defend the right to choose who we love, LGBTQIA+ rights
Because I am trained as an environmental scientist, I am passionate about mitigating climate change and improving public health. Also, the way of doing things is not working for us anymore, especially young folks, so I am also passionate about improving the quality of life by advocating a living wage. I'm also passionate about protecting our existing liberties like the right to vote, the right to read, the right to bodily autonomy, and legalizing marijuana. Lastly, it is unacceptable to limit what sports kids can play or what bathroom they can use based on their gender identity. I am passionate for standing up for minority rights.
I look up to Joyce Elliott. She is a trailblazer in Arkansas, and I hope to continue her legacy in the state senate. She stands up to even the most egregious legislators in the state senate and defends her values. I will never forget her story about growing up during desegregation and being denied the ability to play basketball because of the color of her skin. She used that story as a reason why the anti-transgender law that was passed and eventually struck down is detrimental to transgender students who simply want to play sports. Since she is term-limited in the state senate, she is going on to use her voice for good in this state by creating an initiative called Get Loud Arkansas to help increase voter registration and turnout. She will always be someone who I look up to.
Some characteristics I think are most important for elected officials is the willingness to listen to ALL constituents regardless of their opinions, being approachable, being kind, compassionate, empathetic, and understanding, and believing that the U.S. Constitution applies to everyone, not only you and your supporters.
Go Into the Light - David Liebe Hart
I grew up with a single, widowed mother in poverty. We struggled to keep the lights and water on and keep food on the table. We were on foodstamps. My mother eventually became disabled and passed away due to complications of COPD. I am also disabled myself with autoimmune disorders and spinal issues. I understand the struggles of the working poor and the disabled, and I am committed to standing up for a living wage and basic accommodations and healthcare.
I would want to be a part of the education subcommittee seeing as I have firsthand experience teaching students at the college level. Most students are simply ill-prepared for college when they get there, but especially so in math and science classes. I think my education and teaching experience would be much-needed in that subcommittee.
Joyce Elliott, a current state senator who will be term-limited by the time I would enter the senate, is someone who I will model myself after when legislating, writing and creating bills, and attending subcommittee meetings.
When deciding what office to run for, someone who I was just starting to get to know and is now a close friend told me about how his transgender son committed suicide, and how he thought a large part of it was due to isolation during the pandemic. That really clenched my heart, and I knew after hearing his story that I had to run for an office where I could have a direct say in how public health is handled. If Arkansas had controlled how Covid spread from the very beginning, I believe my friend's son would still be here today. In addition, if my opponent had an inclusive view of transgender kids, I think the social stigma on LGBTQIA+ people, especially youth, would have relaxed and we could create a more inclusive community for all people. Regardless of the election's outcome, I am committed to standing up for LGBTQIA+ rights, and I'm committed to speaking out against disinformation related to pandemics.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
External links
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 9, 2022
Leadership
Majority Leader:Blake Johnson
Minority Leader:Greg Leding
Senators
Republican Party (28)
Democratic Party (6)
Vacancies (1)
