John Thurston, once a quiet church facilities manager, has some questionable business relationships. How did a man with no related professional or educational background and no experience become Secretary of State? It’s not the Cinderella story you might expect.
Who Is John Thurston?
John Thurston presents himself as a quiet, humble public servant—a man who climbed the ranks of Arkansas politics through hard work and dedication, but is it true? Certainly someone who manages our state’s elections—and who wants to be promoted to manage 12-billion dollars in state funds—should have experience worthy of the office, right? Somehow, the party deemed him fit for office, but we don’t actually know why.
What is MBRP Investments?
In 2022, John Thurston received undisclosed property from MBRP Investments LLC, a company run by Byron Hicks, the CEO of McClelland Consulting Engineers and Robert Paul Roberts. A gift like this is a major red flag and creates questions around financial and political ties between Thurston and Hicks.
Hicks and McClelland Consulting Engineers have benefited enormously from state contracts, many of which were awarded during Thurston’s time as Commissioner of State Lands. In this role, Thurston had a significant role in awarding state contracts. These contracts weren’t small-time projects; they included high-profile endeavors like water utility overhauls, regional airports, and major roadway projects, some of which were centered in Thurston’s own backyard of Saline County.
What are the odds that a man with no formal background in infrastructure management and no education would just happen to oversee millions of dollars in contracts being funneled to a company run by a friend who would later give him property of unknown value? John Thurston’s journey is an out-of-character rise to unqualified power.
Robert Paul Roberts, John Thurston’s other silent partner, was also in the now defunct BKR Hicks Investments, which resurfaced later a BKR Hicks Properties. Neither these shell companies nor MBRP Investments have a website or any known purpose. All that is known is that the men behind these dummy corporations are friends and neighbors of John Thurston.
Did John Thurston sell out to special interests?
The relationship between Thurston, Hicks, and Roberts raises alarming questions. Gifts from special interest groups rarely come without strings attached. This wouldn’t be the first time there have been questions from within the party about his financial integrity as a public servant. What did John Thurston promise these men in exchange? Government contracts? Special treatment? What gifts were not disclosed? How much of John Thurston—and Arkansas itself—do they actually own?
John Thurston’s involvement with Roberts, Hicks and MCE isn’t just about roadways or water utilities. It’s about money—big money. MCE has landed a staggering number of high-profile government and other contracts. We’re talking about multi-million-dollar projects like the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Northwest, Stadium Drive in Fayetteville, and huge utilities projects throughout the state. Among the most shocking of these dealings is a roadway project in Pine Bluff designed to make it easier for people to access the Saracen Casino.
These points of fact are hardly the stuff of fiscal responsibility we would expect of someone we’re supposed to elect as State Treasurer. Don’t we want someone we can trust?
Can John Thurston be trusted to manage our money?
John Thurston’s ambitions don’t stop with the office of Secretary of State. Instead, he is asking Arkansans to give him a role overseeing our state’s entire budget—to let him, an uneducated facilities manager with questionable financial ties, control all their money as State Treasurer! What would this mean for the people of Arkansas? What sort of payback does he owe his cronies and power brokers with our money? What is his true motivation for becoming State Treasurer, a role that would give him control over all of Arkansas’s financial resources?
If Thurston were to become State Treasurer, the stakes would rise dramatically from where they are now. His shady connections have already benefited from government contracts during Thurston’s time in office. As Secretary of State, he has the ability to mask and hide campaign contributions from shell companies. Is he hiding something else? What kind of rewards will his connections demand when John Thurston is in charge of our state’s 12-billion-dollar budget?
It’s not hard to imagine what’s at stake here. As Treasurer, he’d be in a position to influence funding for even larger projects. With Thurston in such a powerful financial role, who would he really be serving? Arkansans or special interests? How did we get ourselves into a situation where he is the best the party has to offer?
In the end, there is only one question left to ask: Who is John Thurston?
