BY ANDREW DAVIS
Kathy Webb, a former officer of the Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber Chamber of Commerce, won a four-person Democratic primary race for the Arkansas House of Representatives May 23, according to an e-mail from the candidate.
Webb, who lived in Chicago from 1994-2000, is the first openly LGBT person to run for elected office in Arkansas. She defeated three other candidates, winning every precinct in the district by at least 50 percent. Overall, Webb received 56 percent of the vote, surprising experts.
She ran in District 37. According to the Victory Fund Web site, the area is the most progressive in the state, with 70 percent of registered voters affiliating themselves with the Democratic Party.
Webb, who has no Republican opponent in November, lives in Little Rock with partner Nancy Tesmer, a Chicagoan. Webb owns and operates one of the most successful restaurants in the state, Lilly’s Dim Sum, Then Some. She was former co-owner of Hoxie’s in Chicago.