Jay Barth on Arkansas Politics, the 2026 Midterms & the State of Education
Jay Barth caught the political bug at 12 and has spent nearly 50 years in the game as a volunteer, a candidate, a state education board member, a professor, a city hall official, and director of the Clinton Presidential Library.
Episode notes
Jay Barth caught the political bug at 12 and has spent nearly 50 years in the game as a volunteer, a candidate, a state education board member, a professor, a city hall official, and director of the Clinton Presidential Library. In this episode, host Andy McNeill talks with Jay as Election Day approaches. They look at what moves voters, the races to watch in Arkansas, how campaign money really works, and what it would take to change the balance of power in the legislature. They then turn to education, including what Jay sees as the strengths and concerns of the LEARNS Act and why he’s a believer in community schools, before closing on why both of them want to protect citizen-led ballot initiatives. If you want a political scientist’s take on Arkansas heading into the midterms, this one’s for you. In this conversation:
- Why politics is as much heart and gut as it is policy
- What to watch in Arkansas’ biggest races
- How outside money and ad rates shape campaigns
- The LEARNS Act: what’s working and what concerns Jay
- Why direct democracy matters in Arkansas