District 85 race draws two from Democrats
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
HARRISON — Democrats hope a contested legislative primary in Boone County will bring some attention to the party in a part of the state considered a Republican stronghold.
Bill Witty, a cattleman and used-car dealer, is running against Mark Steven Fowler, an architect, in the May 20 primary. Both live in District 85, which includes Harrison and most of Boone County.
Witty said he sees the primary as an opportunity to win over people who might otherwise vote Republican in the Nov. 4 general election. A Republican, John Burris of Harrison, awaits a Democratic nominee.
“This gives us the first step toward [voters ] maybe coming back to the party,” Witty said of the primary, “if you can get them past that mindset that, ‘I’m a Republican and I can’t vote for a Democratic candidate.’” Witty and Fowler, both lifelong Boone County residents, are running for the seat held by the term-limited Rep. James Norton, R-Harrison.
Fowler has served more than 12 years on the Harrison City Council and said he’s the candidate with more experience. He’s helped lobby the Legislature on behalf of the Arkansas Municipal League for several years and said he knows about a third of state lawmakers by their first names.
Witty comes from a Democratic family. His uncles, Clifford Tomlinson and David Witty, served as county judge and county clerk, respectively, for many years.
He said some of his first memories are of his uncles and his dad huddling together, smoking cigarettes and whispering about local government issues.
“For them to get so intense and involved, it led me to believe that [politics ] is something important,” he said. “It’s very important to the well-being of so many people.” Witty was a banker for more than 20 years before getting “burned out” and going into farming and used-car sales with his father.
Fowler moved back to Harrison after beginning his architecture career in Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock. He started his own practice in Harrison in 1991.
He said he’s learned firsthand about representative government as a member of the City Council. For example, he at first was in favor of a citywide ban on “novelty” cigarette lighters because children have started fires believing the lighters were toys. He later voted against it.
After public outcry, he also changed his mind to ultimately oppose a recent proposed city annexation of county property.
“In theory, people say you... make the best decision, maybe not the most popular decision,” Fowler said. “But in legislative government, when I represent people, if I have eight of 10 people to ask me to do something, I would tend to change my way of thinking to represent what the people want.” Both candidates say they’ve gotten earfuls from voters on the issue of illegal immigration.
Witty said state and local governments must be careful in passing immigration laws that will be costly, especially when the federal government might not provide backup.
“We don’t want to fill up our new jail with illegal immigrants... and not have the support at the federal level to deal with them once we get them in there,” Witty said. “I imagine jail life in Boone County is better than life in Mexico, for some of them.” Fowler said he also believes the federal government has the primary responsibility to enforce immigration law but said the state could enact laws to fine employers or illegal aliens, for example.
He agreed that the state and local government shouldn’t be in the business of housing illegal aliens as prisoners.
“I don’t think we can afford that,” he said.
They haven’t disagreed on much publicly, aside from their stances on a failed millage increase for North Arkansas College in 2005. Fowler favored it, and Witty opposed it.
“That’s something I supported wholeheartedly,” Fowler said. “This local college has done a lot for the community.” Witty said he’s a supporter of the college, too, having attended it after high school. But he said he opposed the millage increase in part because it could have taken away from voter support of increases for public schools, which don’t have the option of raising tuition as a college does.
“I’m not anti-college,” he said, adding that most voters agreed with him on the subject because the proposal failed.
Neither had strong opinions on whether a proposed lottery amendment should pass.
Fowler said he favors a proposed initiated act to ban unmarried cohabiting couples from adopting children or becoming foster parents.
Witty said he’d need to study the proposal’s effect before making a decision on whether to support it.
As of the end of March, Witty was ahead in campaign fundraising. He had raised $ 7, 572 and spent $ 5, 834. His biggest contributors included Jay and April Herrin of Harrison, $ 1, 000, and McNutt Services Inc., $ 600.
Besides a $ 200 contribution from William Thomas Johnson of Harrison, Fowler was financing his own campaign as of the end of March. He had loaned the campaign $ 3, 200. House District 85 DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION Mark Steven Fowler Age: 48 Family: One child Occupation: Architect, Mark Steven Fowler Architects in Harrison Education: Bachelor’s degree in architecture, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Previous political experience: 12 years on Harrison City Council Military experience: None Do you favor or oppose the proposed initiated act to ban unmarried cohabiting couples from adopting children or becoming foster parents ? I will vote for that. I think a child needs a typical parent relationship, with a man and a woman. What taxes would you reduce and how would you propose to make up the shortfall in the budget, through spending cuts or raising revenue ? I think the overall state income tax could be reduced. The last two years, the state of Arkansas has had a surplus of funding. Why did they collect that money if they didn’t need it ? The money should be given back to the taxpayers to stimulate the economy, pay for higher education, etc., as they see fit. Bill Witty Age: 46 Family: Wife, Debbie; two daughters Occupation: Cattle farmer and owner, Witty’s Used Cars in Harrison Education: Valley Springs High School; attended North Arkansas College in Harrison Previous political experience: None Military experience: None Do you favor or oppose the proposed initiated act to ban unmarried cohabiting couples from adopting children or becoming foster parents ? I would want to see a proposal and study the cause and effect of that proposal before I made a decision. What taxes would you reduce and how would you propose to make up the shortfall in the budget, through spending cuts or raising revenue ? It would be hard for a candidate who has never served to form an opinion about where cuts could be made in spending without knowing the significance of funds being cut. I think a good representative looking for spending cuts would start with old programs to see what values they still provide, or overhauls they might require.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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