Profanity-fueled social media posts heat up Arkansas Republican runoff for secretary of state

U.S. Army veteran Bryan Norris is facing off against state Sen. Kim Hammer in Tuesday's ballot box battle for the Republican nomination in the race to succeed Secretary of State Cole Jester.

Hammer enjoys the backing of top Arkansas Republicans, including Sen. Tom Cotton, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, Attorney General Tim Griffin and Jester.

The current secretary of state, in endorsing Hammer, called on Norris to drop out of the race over his controversial past social media posts.

Norris, who is running as an outsider and is backed by far-right Trump allies, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, and Hammer were the top two vote-getters in Arkansas' March 3 GOP secretary of state primary. Because no candidate topped 50%, Norris and Hammer advanced to the runoff election.

The winner will face off in November's general election against Democrat Kelly Grappe, who ran unopposed for her nomination.

The eventual Republican nominee will be considered the clear frontrunner for the general election in Arkansas, where no Democrat has won statewide since 2010.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.