1. Introduction

Johnny R. Key (born December 9, 1968), is an engineer and the owner of two outlets of the Open Arms Learning Center, Inc., in Mountain Home in Baxter County in northwestern Arkansas, who is a Republican former member of the Arkansas State Senate. Key represented District 17, which includes all of Baxter and Marion counties and the eastern half of Boone County. Key was term-limited and ineligible to seek reelection in 2014.

2. Background

A native of Arkadelphia in South Arkansas, Key graduated in 1986 from rural Gurdon High School in Gurdon in Clark County.^[1] In 1991, he obtained a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.^[2]

Key and his wife, Shannon L. Key (born 1970), have two children, Ryan and Rachel. He is affiliated with the Assemblies of God Church. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Lions International.^[2]

3. Political Life

From 1997 to 2002, Key was a justice of the peace of the Baxter County Quorum Court. In 2002, he was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives and served three two-year terms in the chamber, including a stint as Minority Leader. In 2008, Key was elected without opposition in the general election to the State Senate for District 1; he was switched to the revised District 17 with the 2012 election, when he again ran unopposed. His Senate term expired in 2015.^[3]

Key served on the Arkansas Legislative Council, the Joint Retirement and Social Security Committee, and the Arkansas Lottery Commission Legislative Oversight Committee. His other Senate committee assignments include (1) Budget, (2) Education, (3) Efficiency, and (4) Insurance & Commerce.^[1][2] The conservative Key has sponsored legislation to cut in half the sales taxes on groceries and to exempt retirement and pension income from state income taxes.^[1]

As a civic leader, Key has worked with the interest group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, to reduce drinking by teenagers. He successfully supported legislation to create drug courts.^[1] In 2011, the Arkansas Pharmacists Association presented Key with the Guy Newcomb Award, named for the late pharmacy leader from Osceola, who was the 1968 Republican nominee for Arkansas' 1st congressional district seat against the Democrat Bill Alexander.^[4]

Key opposes abortion, having voted to ban the practice after twenty weeks of gestation or whenever fetal heartbeat is determined. He opposes allowing abortion to be covered in health-care plans.^[5] In 2008, while in the House, he unsuccessfully opposed an increase in natural gas taxes. In 2011, he opposed a bill to ban cell phones in school zones.^[5]

In 2013, Key joined the Senate majority to amend state income tax rates and to reduce the amount of weekly unemployment compensation benefits. He co-sponsored legislation to test recipients of unemployment compensation for illegal use of narcotics. He voted successfully to override Governor Mike Beebe's veto of a bill to require photo identification when one casts a ballot in Arkansas. He voted against legislation to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas nonpartisan. He co-sponsored legislation to permit handguns to be carried on church properties and to forbid the release of information on the holders of concealed carry permits. He voted to allow university staff to carry concealed weapons. Key supported legislation to permit the sale of unpasteurized whole milk within his state.^[5]