Jim Dotson

Dotson was challenged in the 2018 primary by Gan Nunually, a car dealership owner from Bentonville who emphasized business growth and education in his campaign. Dotson won with 54% of the vote. He is currently being challenged by Democrat Gayatri Agnew, a political newcomer who is running on a platform of education and road improvements.

In April 2017, Act 911, sponsored by Dotson, made it a requirement of Arkansas state law for all public buildings maintained with state funds, including elementary and secondary education classrooms and libraries, to display posters with the national motto ("In God We Trust").

Dotson is Chair of the Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC), Co—Chair of the ALC-JBC Budget Hearings, Co-Chair of the ALC Executive Subcommittee and a member of the House committees on (1 Advanced Communications and Information Technology, (2) Revenue & Taxation, (3) and State Agencies and Governmental Affairs. Dotson also serves on the Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task For e and the Governor’s Emergency Fund Review Committee

Dotson was re-nominated for a second term in the state House in the Republican primary held on May 20, 2014. He defeated his lone challenger, William P. "Bill" Burckart, 1,333 votes (64 percent) to 735 (36 percent). Burckart (born 1965), a construction company owner and a former colleague of Dotson's on the Bentonville City Council, had vowed if elected to stress the importance of economic growth in the private sector. In the General election, Dotson won with 70% of the vote over Democratic opponent Leah Williams.

Representative Dotson in 2013 co-sponsored the proposed spending cap on the state budget. The bill failed by a two-vote margin in the House. He joined the required the majority vote to override the vetoes of Democratic Governor Mike Beebe to enact legislation to require photo identification for casting a ballot in Arkansas and to ban abortion after twenty weeks of gestation. He had co-sponsored both measures. He also supported related legislation to ban abortion whenever a fetal heartbeat is detected, to forbid the inclusion of abortion in the state insurance exchange, and to make a fetal death a felony in certain cases. He co-sponsored legislation to allow leaders of universities and religious institutions to carry concealed weapons. He voted to prohibit the governor from regulating firearms during an emergency. Dotson supported the bill, signed by Governor Beebe, to permit the sale of up to five hundred gallons per month of unpasteurized whole milk directly from the farm to consumers. He did not vote on the legislation to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas nonpartisan.

James Michael "Jim" Dotson 2013–

In 2012, Dotson was nominated in the Republican primary election, having polled 1,625 votes to 1,354 for Duane R. Neal (born 1933), a retired industrial engineer and a former member of the Benton County Quorum Court, akin to the county commission in other states. Dotson was then unopposed in the general election for the seat vacated by Republican Jon Woods, who was instead elected to the Arkansas State Senate.

Since 2011, Dotson has been an account executive for Cox Business, a telecommunications firm located in Springdale in Washington County, Arkansas. From 2005 to 2011, he was a sales representative for Digital Printing Solutions. Dotson currently is an agent at Gibson Real Estate. Dotson is affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce, the local Rotary International, and the National Rifle Association. Dotson and his wife, Jennifer (also born 1978), have been married since 2002, They have two daughters, Emma and Arianna, and one son, William.

James Michael Dotson (born 1978) is a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Bentonville, Arkansas. District 93, which he has represented since 2013, includes parts of Benton County. From 2009 to 2012, he was a member of the Bentonville City Council.