Willisville Native Joyce Elliot Files To Run For Congress

Willisville native and State Senator Joyce Elliott filed Tuesday as a Democratic candidate for the US House Seat held by Republican French Hill in Central Arkansas’s Second Congressional District.  Elliot currently serves as a state senator representing the 31st district which encompasses a portion of Pulaski County  Previously she served as a Majority Leader in the Arkansas House of Representatives.Senator Elliott is a graduate of Willisville High School and has degrees from SAU and Ouachita.  She has previously run for Congress as a Democrat.  In addition to several awards and honors for her legislative career, Sen. Elliot has been named by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as one of the “Ten Best Legislators” during one of the session in which she served.She serves as Vice-Chair of the Senate Education Committee.

For more than 30 years, Elliott taught Advanced Placement and College Preparatory courses to high school juniors and seniors in Arkansas, Florida, Minnesota, and Texas. During her time as a teacher at Robinson High School in the Pulaski County Special School District, she served as President of the Pulaski County Classroom Teachers Association, then left the Arkansas Education Association(AEA) affiliate to form a local affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).  She also served on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the College Board of Trustees, and the National Commission on the High School Senior Year.

She was elected to the Arkansas House in 2000, serving until being rendered ineligible by term limits, and was elected to the Senate in 2006. In 2010, Elliott made her first bid for the US House, defeating then-House Speaker Robbie Wills of Conway in the Democratic Primary runoff, but lost to former US Attorney Tim Griffin (now Lt. Governor) by a margin of 58-38%. Elliott is ineligible to seek reelection to the Senate in 2022 due to term limits.