Vice Mayor BJ Wyrick Announces Campaign for Mayor

City Director and Vice Mayor Brings Experience and a Vision to Unite the City

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (September 30, 2025) – Vice Mayor BJ “Brenda” Wyrick today announced that she will be a candidate for Mayor of Little Rock in 2026. The non-partisan election will be held on November 3, 2026.

“I’m running for Mayor because this is my home,” said Wyrick. “It’s where I’ve raised my family, served our community, and fought to make our neighborhoods safer and stronger. I love Little Rock, but today our city is at a crossroads. After years of disorder, decline, distrust, and above all a failed vision, it’s time for change.

My campaign for mayor is about the nuts and bolts: public safety, potholes, parks, and picking up trash. We have to get the basics right to restore trust in city government and come together – all of us, from every corner of this city – to build the Little Rock we want. We don’t need any more empty promises or flashy marketing. My campaign is about solutions, not slogans.”

As Mayor, her priorities include:

• Restoring public safety in the city by filling vacancies currently open in the police department, doubling the number of community resource officers, and enforcing code violations.

• Leading on economic development by recruiting industries to Little Rock, working alongside the business community to remove barriers and incentivize job growth and investment. She is the only candidate in the race who has run a small business and understands the challenges facing job creators in our city.

• Establishing a “Pothole Patrol” to identify and repair potholes, as well as dedicating more city funding to roads and infrastructure – a core city responsibility.

• Major reforms and investment in the Parks Department to improve parks across the city, including the flagship park, War Memorial, which has been allowed to deteriorate under the current administration.

• A new era of transparency and good government. No more making decisions behind closed doors, hiring friends, and shady contracts.

• Restoring trust in city government by improving basic city services and quality of life. Uniting the city – including our business community, neighborhood groups, philanthropists, and non-profits – behind a shared vision to make Little Rock a shining example of progress.

Vice Mayor Wyrick has been elected to eight terms as City Director representing Southwest Little Rock. She has been elected Vice Mayor by her fellow board members three times and currently serves in that role. One of Vice Mayor Wyrick’s initiatives was the reopening of the Ottenheimer Community Center in Southwest Little Rock after a fire had destroyed it. She has also worked to ensure strong communication between the City of Little Rock and the Little Rock School District on issues involving the Southwest Little Rock schools, and she was a leader in the effort to save Western Hills Elementary from being closed. Above all, her record is one of focusing intensely on solving neighborhood problems and prioritizing constituent services, always being accessible to the people she represents and following through with action.

For more information about Vice Mayor Wyrick and her campaign, visit WyrickForMayor.com.

About BJ Wyrick

Vice Mayor BJ “Brenda” Wyrick serves as City Director for Ward 7. She was first elected to the Board of Directors in November 1994. From January 2000 until December 2001, she served as Vice Mayor of the City of Little Rock, and in 2025 she was re-elected as Vice Mayor.

A Central Arkansas native, Vice Mayor Wyrick is retired after a career with Southwestern Bell Telephone and the State of Arkansas Department of Information Systems. Prior to being elected to the City Board of Directors, she served as a member of the Little Rock Planning Commission and the Little Rock Board of Adjustment. She has also served on the Little Rock Commission on Domestic Violence and the Little Rock Youth Task Force. Wyrick was also an officer in Southwest Little Rock United for Progress, vice chair of the Daisy Bates Holiday Commission, and she has been a member of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership Board of Directors.

Vice Mayor Wyrick has been married to Phil Wyrick, a former state senator and state representative, for 54 years. Together they have raised two daughters. In 1995, they were the Pulaski County Farm Family of the Year. The Wyricks have owned a small family business for over 40 years and currently operate Esquire Land & Cattle, which raises award-winning grass fed cattle on three different farms.