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Rodney Govens
Rodney Govens (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Arkansas' 1st Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Govens completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Rodney Govens was born in Mainz, Germany. He served in the U.S. Army from 2001 to 2005. Govens attended Midlands Technical College and earned an associate degree from ITT Technical Institute in 2014. His professional experience includes working in the telecommunications industry and in leadership roles. Govens has been a board member of Foster Love Arkansas and has been affiliated with Grand Prairie Court Appointed Special Advocates and the VFW. [1][2]
Elections
2024
See also: Arkansas' 1st Congressional District election, 2024
Arkansas' 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)
Arkansas' 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Arkansas District 1
Incumbent Rick Crawford defeated Rodney Govens and Steven Gene Parsons in the general election for U.S. House Arkansas District 1 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Rick Crawford (R) | 72.9 | 194,711 |
 | Rodney Govens (D)  | 24.0 | 64,113 | |
 | Steven Gene Parsons (L) | 3.1 | 8,353 | |
| Total votes: 267,177 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Rodney Govens advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 1.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Rick Crawford advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 1.
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for U.S. House Arkansas District 1
Steven Gene Parsons defeated Roger Daugherty in the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Arkansas District 1 on February 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steven Gene Parsons (L) | 87.8 | 36 |
| Roger Daugherty (L) | 9.8 | 4 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.4 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 41 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Govens in this election.
2020
See also: Arkansas House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 44
Incumbent Cameron Cooper defeated Rodney Govens in the general election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 44 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Cameron Cooper (R) | 83.7 | 11,737 |
| Rodney Govens (D) | 16.3 | 2,284 | |
| Total votes: 14,021 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Rodney Govens advanced from the Democratic primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 44.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Cameron Cooper advanced from the Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 44.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rodney Govens completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Govens' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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During his three-and-a-half years in the Army, Govens served as an E-4 Specialist in the Signal Corps with 596 Signal Company from Fort Riley, Kansas, including deployment to Iraq as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Service honors awarded included the Army Achievement Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, among others. Since his honorable discharge in 2005, Govens has worked as operations manager for broadband and telecom providers serving rural Arkansas — a role that introduced him to Arkansans in rural communities and small towns all over the Natural State. He is a passionate advocate for change and believes Arkansans deserve better government and more responsive and accessible Representatives.
- Arkansas’ farmers are struggling more than ever before. Removing the United States from NAFTA and implementing other legislation was disastrous for Arkansas’ crop producers and ranchers, and all of us experience the fallout of terrible leadership every time we go to the grocery store. We can no longer afford for our leaders to stick their heads in the sand and merely hope and pray that it will get better. We must elect leaders who will work in the trenches to build a better system and find solutions that work for Arkansans in every income bracket.
- The United States spends more of our federal budget on the military than any other country in the world, yet we have more soldiers on government assistance programs than at any time in recent memory. Corporate profits continue to climb to new records, and so does the number of full-time workers who can’t support their families’ basic needs. We must forge new, equitable paths to achieve economic stability for everyone.
- Our public schools are the lifeblood of our communities — especially outside of the large metro areas. We must re-commit to investing in and adapting our public education system for the workforce we have now and the workforce of tomorrow. Our schools must be equipped to embrace the future and equip our children and our grandchildren with the skills and knowledge they’ll need to thrive in a fast-changing world.
Rodney is also passionate about elected officials in D.C. needing to be more in-touch with their constituents and the everyday challenges they face, more transparent, and more responsive to constituents' feedback.
Movie "The Help"
Book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
Wellesley Place Apartments
1995-1996
This book touches on multiple themes and overarching messages and includes King's "Letter From A Birmingham Jail." The major message is that we should not wait for needed change and must get involved, peacefully, in order to secure our futures.
John Lewis (D) - Georgia
Joyce Elliot (D) - Arkansas
Denise Garner (D) - Arkansas
Blanche Lincoln (D) - Arkansas
Joe Harris (D) - Arkansas
Chris Jones, Ph.D.
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.
Campaign website
Govens' campaign website stated the following:
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Agriculture and Trade Arkansas’ farmers are struggling more than ever before. Removing the United States from NAFTA was disastrous for Arkansas’ crop producers and ranchers, and all of us experience the fallout of terrible leadership every time we go to the grocery store. Rodney will work to enact:
Living Wages The United States spends more of our federal budget on the military than any other country in the world, yet we have more soldiers on government assistance programs than at any time in recent memory. Corporate profits continue to climb to new records, and so does the number of full-time workers who can’t support their families’ basic needs. We must forge new, equitable paths to achieve economic stability for everyone. Public Education Arkansas’ public schools are the lifeblood of our communities — especially outside of the metro areas. We must re-commit to investing in and adapting our public education system for the workforce we have now and the workforce of tomorrow. Our schools must be equipped to embrace the future and equip our children and our grandchildren with the skills and knowledge they’ll need to thrive in a fast-changing world. This includes cybersecurity! The safeguarding of our children’s private information must be taken seriously, and public schools currently get zero help to combat evolving, sophisticated cyber threats. As part of our nation’s critical infrastructure, public schools must have access to fully funded cybersecurity services that are effective at protecting school networks and the valuable data they hold. Criminal Justice The criminal justice system must be reformed so that we are actually investing in rehabilitation – particularly for those convicted of non-violent crimes. Criminal justice should never be a money-maker for any institution, public or private. The cash bond system should be eliminated, as well as other elements of our criminal justice system that criminalize poverty and increase the recidivism rate (not to mention increase the costs to taxpayers). Healthcare Freedom The government has no business interfering with individuals’ healthcare decisions. Period. Americans’ right to make their own healthcare decisions with their individual healthcare provider must be protected at every level — including women’s reproductive healthcare. VA & the Military The Veterans Administration is sorely outdated and must be overhauled, modernized, and made more responsive and more accessible for our military veterans. The VA should be operated at least as efficiently as a private-sector healthcare network, and patients within the VA network should have access to care that is equal to the access to care that non-veteran patients can expect at private-sector, for-profit healthcare clinics and hospitals. Technology advancements have dramatically reduced operating expenses over the past decade at private-sector healthcare networks, and it’s past time for the VA to modernize its systems and find those same opportunities to lower operating expenses and meet the needs of more patients in less time. Active military members should earn a living wage as they are serving our nation. We have far too many military families on public assistance programs; this is not acceptable. Any American who is serving full-time in the military to protect our nation and our freedoms should earn enough to support their family. Gun Regulations No one is coming to take your guns away. I do not support diminishing individuals’ right to own guns. I believe, though, that the gun control issue has devolved into a standoff and we must find a way to better regulate the sales of guns, particularly high-powered weapons intended for use in war. “Well-regulated,” as the Constitution says, is not what we have currently in this country. We can find a middle ground if we choose to; we can stop the mass shootings and the slaying of schoolchildren if we want to and if we are willing to work together and stop playing politics. If we elect lawmakers who are willing to work together — who, like me, believe that “thoughts and prayers” are the same as pretending there’s no problem — then this is solvable. We can identify common-sense regulations that:
Infrastructure The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was a great start, yet the large influx of federal funds hasn’t helped the many towns in Arkansas that still have unsafe (or no) drinking water and no high-speed internet options. The oversight of federal spending and how those funds are dispersed at the state and local levels must improve, and every community in the United States should have safe drinking water; high-speed internet; public transportation so those who are able can work and support themselves; and safe, affordable housing. Opportunities for education, workforce training, and jobs that pay enough to support a family should not be pegged to where a person lives or how wealthy their neighbors and family are. All Americans deserve the same access to opportunities, and it’s time that Arkansas’ representatives fight to ensure that small cities, towns, and rural counties are no longer overlooked when infrastructure dollars are distributed. Healthcare Our nation’s healthcare system is failing on numerous fronts, and Congress must act to ensure:
Public Assistance Programs Public assistance programs for able-bodied Americans need a revamp so that recipients can get the aid they need while they also can choose a new career pathway and receive education and/or training that will land them a job in a high-demand industry — a job that pays better than any assistance program ever could and offers a pathway for continued income growth. Senior Care & Disability Assistance programs for Americans whose physicians deem them as unable to work and support themselves must be protected and boosted — they should empower those disabled citizens to a life with dignity while giving them opportunities to contribute to their communities in the ways in which they are able. Senior citizens and disabled and chronically ill Americans should be able to keep their homes and afford their medical care at the same time, and Congress should encourage more in-home care models such as the PACE model and the Hospital At Home model. International Aid The United States cannot afford to ignore the call when other major powers around the globe are violating international law, killing innocent civilians, or committing other atrocities against marginalized groups or less-powerful nations. However, when the United States does provide assistance or funds internationally, safeguards and accountability checks must be in place and enforced to ensure that our aid funds are used for the intended purpose and are not used in a manner that harms civilians, violates international law, or further harms any marginalized or historically persecuted human beings. Finally, sending aid funds to other nations or groups must be balanced with investments within our own borders: When whole towns and cities in the United States still do not have drinking water that is free of lead or other contaminants, it is hard to understand why we send millions to other countries. A balance test or formula for such investments (domestic vs. international aid) must be developed and followed. Boost Investments in Our Kids The United States must increase funding for child advocacy and protection programs and ensure that children without a safe family home have the same opportunities to develop and grow into healthy adults while in foster care. Family court systems and child protective services in each state must be able to vet, recruit, and retain more foster families and fund more programs to ensure children are supported, nurtured, and given opportunities to thrive as they enter adulthood. Immigration & the Border Our nation’s border policies need to be updated, yes. More importantly, though, is the immigration court system that is so backed up and so under-funded that individuals seeking asylum or permanent residency in the United States must often wait years before they get to plead their case before a judge. The immigration court system is vastly under-funded and short-staffed, and asylum-seekers — including young children — have no guarantee of representation, legal counsel, or even an interpreter. The system is so broken that it is wholly ineffective and harmful both to our nation and to immigrants whose claims fall within long-established federal law for granting asylum. We have to do better, immediately, and stop the politicking and blame-game that is harming people on both sides of the border.[3] |
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| —Rodney Govens' campaign website (2024)[4] | ||
2020
Rodney Govens completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Govens' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Law Enforcement neighbors are struggling and that isn't right. We need to increase payroll for our law enforcement agencies around the state.
- Teachers are more valuable than what we, as a society, have shown them. We need to increase funding for our public schools and teacher pay. No one should have to work a second job to make ends meet simply because they want to be a teacher.
- Where are my taxes going? For the last few years, I've been told that the state budget is slashed and continues to be trimmed, but my taxes haven't gone down. The average Arkansan isn't paying less in taxes. Where's the money going?
2. High Integrity
3. Data Analysis
This book touches on the uncomfortable conversations regarding race in this country. It brings perspectives and stories that aren't always at the forefront of the American conscious. It's a great read.
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.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Arkansas District 1 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 8, 2020
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 27, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Rodney Govens' campaign website, "Issues," accessed September 18, 2024
