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FREEDOM
CONSTITUTION
LIFE
Bart Hester is a life-long Arkansan, who learned the value of hard work and public service while growing up on Green Forest, AR, where his parents were schoolteachers.
Bart received his bachelor’s degree in business management from the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. While attending the university, he was a three-year letterman for the Arkansas Razorback Baseball Team.
He married his high school sweetheart, Ashley Dorsey. He and Ashley, his wife of 23 years, live in Bentonville. Their oldest daughter Brooklyn Laney is married to Andrew Laney. Bart and Ashley have 3 other children Addey Jo, Nik, and Madden Hester. They attended First Baptist Bentonville for 20 years.
After graduation, Bart went to work for the JB Hunt family in real estate development. Bart started his own company focusing on real estate development, construction, and sales across Northwest Arkansas.
Bart was elected to the Arkansas State Senate in 2012, where he championed tax cuts, government transparency, and reducing unnecessary government regulation and bureaucracy. Bart was a driving force behind eliminating government ear mark spending known as GIF.
Bart was elected as the President Pro Tempora of the Arkansas Senate in 2021 with a unanimous bi-partisan vote and recently reelected to serve as the leader of the Senate through 2026.
"Senator Hester has worked with me on federal support for highways in Northwest Arkansas and to resolve the Bella Vista waste fire. He is a hard-working and aggressive advocate for Northwest Arkansas. He solves problems. The people of Benton County could not have a better state Senator."
US Senator Tom Cotton