I’m Amelia May Johnson and I’m running for Clark County, Arkansas Justice of the Peace district 8 as a conservative, populist, and pro-life for the whole life Democrat to give Amity, part of Alpine, and the surrounding areas a choice other than GOP extremism and incompetency.
This is especially important at a time when our democracy is under attack by corrupt politicians who try to overturn elections when they lose, gerrymander the district maps, make it harder to vote, and routinely throw out ballots cast by legal voters for mere technicalities.
The reason I’m running as a Democrat, despite being raised a Trump-supporting Republican and later becoming an independent for a few years, is because the Republican Party is too extreme. They’re not the party of individual liberty and small government, but rather the party of authoritarianism and anti-democracy. They also support child labor.
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About Me
I was raised a Southern Baptist and later a Methodist, but now consider myself to be a non-denominational Christian. My faith influences my values and political beliefs in a unique way inspired by liberation theology and the social gospel.
I’m openly transgender and bisexual, and although I don’t believe children should be having surgeries, I do believe in individual liberty for adults and oppose censorship on both sides. Live and let live!
I was born in De Queen, lived in Horatio for the first few years of my life, and then moved between Amity, Alpine, and Glenwood various times. I graduated from Centerpoint high school in 2020 and never went to college. I’m currently unemployed, but have experience with computer programming and web design.
I currently serve as state lead for the Arkansas chapter of Democrats for Life (please get in touch if you’d like to get involved!). My political role models are Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Governor John Bel Edwards (D-LA).
District 8
District 8 is a rural district in north-west Clark County that includes Amity, part of Alpine, and the surrounding areas. You can use this map to see if you live in district 8. The Secretary of State also has a website where you can put in your information to see which district your in.
Local Issues
Livestream Ordinance
I strongly support Justice Michael Ankton’s (D) livestream ordinance — which my opponent voted against — because government transparency is very important at a time when most Americans distrust the government, and rightfully so! In 2023, we can and should allow people to watch what their county government is doing online. Most people don’t have the time and gas money to make it up to Arkadelphia every month, especially if they have a job and children to take care of. This is especially important for District 8, because we’re further away from Arkadelphia.
Pay County Employees a Living Wage
Data suggests the cost of living in Clark County is $14 per hour for a single person, let alone an entire family. Therefore, I believe all county employees should be paid a living wage of at least $14 per hour, or a salary of $29,120 a year — especially employees of the Sheriff’s Office.
The people who work hard to keep our county government functional and our streets safe deserve to be paid a living wage and not have to worry about how they’re going to make ends meet, pay the bills, and put food on the table — especially if we can afford to give charitable raises to elected officials. I believe this is a natural extension of pro-life and pro-family policy. I will, however, give my opponent credit for voting against giving himself a raise.
Economic Development Taxes
Personally, I did not support the economic development tax, because I believe tax cuts would create more economic growth while helping low-income Americans at the same time. (This perhaps makes me more fiscally conservative than most of the Republicans on the Quorum Court). Although turnout was less than 18%, voters did ultimately approve the tax. Therefore, if I’m elected JP, I hope to ensure economic development funds are spent responsibly by supporting reasonable guidelines for the Economic Development Corporation.
Make Clark County Pro-Life
I support a resolution to declare Clark County pro-life, as many other counties in Arkansas have done, including Lee County, which voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and is solidly Democratic at the local level. This resolution would be non-binding, but I believe it’s important to stand in solidarity with unborn children and to advocate for their basic human rights. I do, however, also support an ordinance to ban abortion trafficking through Clark County.
Book Bans
I support efforts to remove pornographic books from county libraries and keep inappropriate material far away from children, but I strongly oppose ideological censorship and banning books just because they don’t align with either party’s platform, acknowledge the existence of LGBT+ people, or talk about the history of slavery and segregation. I strongly support 1st Amendment free speech rights for everyone, even people I vehemently disagree with.
Make Clark County a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary
I’m a staunchly pro-gun Democrat and would support a 2nd Amendment sanctuary ordinance to protect our right to keep and bear arms — which has been passed by many other counties in America, including Democratic counties.
My Values
Christianity
Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31), give to the poor (Mark 10:21), and serve God over money (Matthew 6:24). These are not the values of the Republican Party. I believe “thou shalt not kill” includes abortion as well as the death penalty. Jesus said he came to liberate the oppressed (Luke 4:18) and I believe this includes all oppressed groups — racial minorities, the poor, the LGBT+ community, unborn children (the most oppressed minority in America), etc.
Pro-Life for the Whole Life
I’m a pro-life for the whole life Democrat and support what is known as the consistent life ethic. I not only oppose the legality of abortion, but believe we need to address the root causes of abortion as well, which are mostly economic, such as poverty and the cost of pregnancy (which I believe should be free).
Being pro-life means protecting life after birth as well, therefore I support ending overseas wars, abolishing the death penalty, taking action against climate change, and expanding access to affordable healthcare. Furthermore, people need good jobs at a pro-life wage and the education to access those jobs.
Individual Liberty
I’m a libertarian Democrat and believe the role of the government is to protect individual liberty, not tell people how to live their lives. This includes LGBT+ rights, religious freedom, the right to keep and bear arms, and opposition to vaccine mandates. Furthermore, I believe abortion violates the non-aggression principle by intentionally taking a human life. However, freedom also means freedom from addiction, crime, poverty, etc.
Fiscal Responsibility
I support fiscal responsibility and believe the government should be careful with how we spend taxpayer dollars, while at the same time adequately funding important services like road maintenance and the Sheriff’s Office. I also support cutting sales and property taxes to help working-class people by as much as possible while maintaining a balanced budget. As a libertarian Democrat, I’m skeptical of the government giving out money to corporations and oppose taxpayer-funded bailouts.
Bipartisanship
If elected, I would reach across the isle and attempt to find bipartisan, common sense solutions to our problems instead of the gridlock and division that characterizes national politics. Compromise is a necessary part of the political process. This does not mean compromising your core beliefs or selling out to corporations.