Clint Penzo is an American politician and businessman serving as a member of the

Arkansas Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

representing the Springdale area. He previously served in the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House has 100 members elected from an equal number of constituencies across the state. Each distr ...

from 2017 to 2023.

Early life and education

Penzo was born in

Tontitown, Arkansas Tontitown is a city in northern Washington County, Arkansas, United States. The community is located in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountains and was founded by Italian American, Italian settlers in 1898. Known for its grapes and wines, Tontitown has hosted ...

. He earned an Associate of Applied Science in physical therapy from

Northwest Arkansas Community College NorthWest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) is a public community college with its main campus in Bentonville, Arkansas. Total enrollment for the fall semester of 2018 was 8,308. History NWACC was founded by voters in the Bentonville and Roge ...

and a Bachelor of Science in geological and Earth sciences from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

Career

From 2000 to 2005, Penzo worked as a physical therapy assistant at

Encompass Health Encompass Health Corporation, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is the nation's largest provider of inpatient rehabilitative services, offering facility-based care through its network of 166 Rehabilitation hospital, inpatient rehabilitation hospital ...

. He later became a real estate agent for Century 21. He served as a member of the Tontitown City Council for two years before losing a campaign for Tontitown Mayor in 2014 by an 11% margin. Penzo was elected to the

in November 2016 and assumed office in January 2017. He also served as vice chair of the Joint Energy Committee. In 2021, he announced he would not run for reelection and would run for

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

District 31. On November 8, 2022 he was elected to the State Senate over Democrat Lisa Parks by a margin of 60-40%. In November 2023, Penzo announced he would run in

Arkansas's 3rd congressional district Arkansas's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The district covers Northwest Arkansas and takes in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Springdale, Arkansas, Sp ...

in the

2024 United States House of Representatives elections The 2024 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 5, 2024, to elect the 435 representatives of the United States House of Representatives, as well as 6 non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia and inhabi ...

, challenging incumbent Republican congressman

Steve Womack Stephen Allen Womack ( ; born February 18, 1957) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2011. The district, which was once represented by former Senator J. William Fulbright, covers much of northwestern Arkans ...

. Penzo criticized Womack as insufficiently conservative for the district. Womack defeated Penzo 54–46 in the primary. On March 11 2025, Penzo was one of the few Republican, who voted against a

nitrogen hypoxia Inert gas asphyxiation is a form of asphyxiation which results from breathing a physiologically inert gas in the absence of oxygen, or a low amount of oxygen (hypoxia), rather than atmospheric air (which is composed largely of nitrogen and oxygen ...

death penalty method bill.

Controversy

The

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette ''Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' () is a daily newspaper in Fayetteville, Arkansas owned by Northwest Arkansas Newspapers and has circulation of 17,807 copies. History The ''Northwest Arkansas Times'' was formerly owned by the Thomson C ...

reported during Penzo’s 2016 campaign for State Representative that he had failed to pay nearly $21,000 in income taxes. Penzo stated he had since paid off the tax liens.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penzo, Clint 21st-century Mexican politicians American businesspeople in real estate Living people Northwest Arkansas Community College alumni People from Springdale, Arkansas People from Washington County, Arkansas Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly University of Arkansas alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections