Greetings:

Today, I took a step forward to speak to the interest of our citizenry by requesting the United States Department of Justice to scrutinize and investigate the racial discrimination, voter suppression, and map manipulation of Arkansas’ Second Congressional District (AR-02).

I have and will continue to work for our great state. The Second District is ready to demonstrate how a coalition of socially stratified citizens can shape federal politics at an opportune time. With the legal intervention of the Department of Justice and the racial and partisan gerrymandering cases in motion, we can chart a new course for the Second District.

The District was reapportioned in such a way that it became highly politicized and litigious action followed. An inquiry must be conducted as to what algorithm was used by a competent body to construct the Second District. Under current conditions, the map lacks competitiveness, representativeness, and the fair representation of minorities, which is at odds with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the 14th and 15th Amendments. The Department of Justice ought to question the aptitude and investigate the stakeholders who crafted and executed the congressional district maps adopted by the state legislature and provide relief. Fair representation, a minority perspective, should be introduced or maintained.

Arkansas is the only state which has never elected an African American to federal office, as well as have a black population with over ten (10) percent of which does not have such a representative in the entire United States of America. To date, according to the to United States Census Bureau's My Congressional District, 118th Congress, Black or African American constitutes 159,891 (21.03%) of 758,976 citizens of Arkansas' Second District.

We ought to reunite the African American community and make whole Pulaski County into the Second Congressional District. We the People of conscience ought to cultivate a path that creates opportunity for ourselves and shape a brighter destiny. We the People of the Second District deserve universal and equal suffrage. We the People of the Second District will define how power is gained and exercised in our state. We the People of the Second District are disenchanted with the regime which runs roughshod over our rights. We the People of the Second District must push back against the multi-pronged assault on democracy and vote dilution. We the People of the Second District must hold elected officials accountable to the promises of free and fair elections. We the People of the Second District must ensure our state and nation live up to its highest ideals.

In solidarity,

Dr. Quintessa Hathaway

Former Democratic Nominee

118th Congress (2023-2025)

United States House Of Representatives

Arkansas' Second District (AR-02)