Kim Hammer is a

Missionary Baptist Missionary Baptists are a group of Baptists that grew out of the missionary / anti-missionary controversy that divided Baptists in the United States in the early part of the 19th century, with Missionary Baptists following the pro-missions move ...

preacher and state legislator in Arkansas. He serves in the

Arkansas Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

. He is a Republican. He hosts a weekly

conservative talk radio Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

show. Hammer was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for eight years before being elected to the

state Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

in 2018. He lives in

Benton, Arkansas Benton is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Arkansas, United States and a suburb of Little Rock. It was established in 1837. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 30,681. In 2019 the population was estimated at 36,820. ...

. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Arkansas, Hammer was one of several Republican state legislators who sued

Arkansas Governor The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arkansas government and is charged with enforcing state laws. They have the power to either approve or v ...

Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, '' AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who is the 46th and current governor of Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. attorney for the Fort Smit ...

, a fellow Republican, over public health measures that he ordered to prevent the spread of the virus. An Arkansas judge dismissed the suit. In 2021, Hammer promoted

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's claim that the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

was "stolen"; after Trump was impeached for a second time, wrote in a

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post that Democrats were "enemies" and called for "political war" to be waged against them. Hammer deleted the post after it garnered criticism.Max Brantley
Sen. Kim Hammer declares 'war' on Democrats in now-removed Facebook post
''Arkansas Times'' (January 16, 2021). In 2021, as part of Republican efforts to restrict voting following Trump's defeat, Hammer introduced a bill to eliminate

early voting Early voting, also called advance polling or pre-poll voting, is a convenience voting process by which voters in a public election can vote before a scheduled election day. Early voting can take place remotely, such as via postal voting, or in ...

in Arkansas on the last Monday before

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections a ...

, a measure that voting-rights groups described as

voter suppression Voter suppression is a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting ...

. The bill passed the Senate on a 19–13 vote, but failed in the state House on a 43–39 vote.Rachel Herzog
Senate OKs early voting ban on day before election
''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' (April 23, 2021). In 2021, Hammer opposed the grant of a liquor-sales permit for a new

Costco Wholesale Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...

in west

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, a portion of which is in his district. Hammer wrote a letter to the director of the Alcohol Beverage Control Division, contending that the public's needs were "being adequately met by these existing businesses."Noel Oman
Liquor sales at new Costco in Little Rock hit bump after lawmaker objects
''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' (May 28, 2021). By contrast, Little Rock's mayor and vice mayor supported Costco's permit request. The director initially denied Costco's permit application,John Lynch
Permit to sell liquor disputed
''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' (July 18, 2021). but this decision was reversed after a successful appeal by Costco to the Control Board directors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammer, Kim Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Republican Party Arkansas state senators