Campaign Focus : Only 2 Senate seats contested in 18 races
Posted on Sunday, October 12, 2008
Eighteen state Senate seats are up for grabs in the Nov. 4 general election, but only two have opposing candidates.
One of those races may figure in who becomes the Senate chairman of the budget committee, and term limits make sure there will be new chairmen of the Senate education, public health and taxation committees.
In one of the two contested races, Rep. David Johnson, DLittle Rock, said he doesn’t believe most people know he has an opponent in his bid to succeed term-limited Sen. Jim Argue, D-Little Rock, in District 32.
Johnson’s foe is a write-in candidate, Scott Pfleegor of Little Rock, a 46-year-old employee at Terry’s Finer Foods in Little Rock.
In 2004, Pfleegor received 16 votes in his write-in candidacy against Argue, who received 30, 778 votes, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Pfleegor calls himself an independent. Friends persuaded him to run again, he said, but he’s done little campaigning because he’s been busy at work. He said he didn’t have enough money to pay the $ 4, 500 filing fee to run as a Democrat.
Johnson, 40, is an attorney.
The other contested state Senate seat is the highest-profile state legislative race on the Nov. 4 ballot. That one race pits Sen. Gilbert Baker, a Republican, against Democrat Joe White for the District 30 seat, which includes the Conway area.
Though Baker is the GOP nominee, his supporters include some prominent Democrats: term-limited Senate President Pro Tempore Jack Critcher of Batesville, and Sen. Bob Johnson of Bigelow, who has been designated by the Senate as its next pro tempore. White’s backers include Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat.
When the Legislature is in session, lawmakers — senators and representatives — often work across party lines on legislation, but this year’s campaign-finance reports indicate that current legislators tend to be hewing to party sentiment as they contribute money to the Baker-White race, despite Baker being backed by Critcher and Johnson.
White has received more than $ 13, 000 from three dozen House and Senate Democrats; Baker has received more than $ 13, 000 from 14 House and Senate Republicans.
Baker, a former chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, reported receiving $ 2, 000 apiece from Sen. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith, and Sharon Trusty, R-Russellville; $ 1, 000 apiece from Sens. Bill Pritchard, RElkins, and Kim Hendren, R-Gravette; and $ 500 from Sen. Ruth Whitaker, R-Cedarville.
White reported receiving $ 1, 250 from Sen. Paul Miller, D-Melbourne; $ 1, 000 from Sen. Percy Malone, D-Arkadelphia; $ 500 apiece from Sens. Jimmy Jeffress, D-Crossett, Gene Jeffress, D-Louann, and Mary Anne Salmon, D-North Little Rock; and $ 100 piece from Sens. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, and Robert Thompson, D-Paragould.
The outcome of the Baker-White race may decide who is the Senate co-chairman of the powerful Joint Budget Committee for the 2009 regular session.
That’s because the current cochairman, Sen. Shawn Womack, R-Mountain Home, is running for a circuit judge post in the general election, and Baker said he would like to succeed him.
Under the Senate’s current rules, the Senate’s Joint Budget Committee members elect their co-chairman.
Sen. Irma Hunter Brown, DLittle Rock, is the Senate’s covice chairman for the committee. She lost to former Rep. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, in the May 20 Democratic primary.
Sen. Bob Johnson said he’s not heard any criticism about the possibility of Baker becoming co-chairman of the Joint Budget Committee if re-elected.
“Based on what I know right now, I will be supporting him [to be the committee’s co-chairman ],” Johnson said.
Asked about the potential irony of Baker ending up as the committee’s co-chairman, despite Beebe’s support for White’s bid to oust Baker, Johnson said, “Arkansas is a small world. Arkansas politics.”
Baker said some senators encouraged him to seek the budget committee co-chairmanship after Womack said he intended to run for circuit judge.
“I am focusing on my race and not being presumptuous,” he said.
White said his campaign has gotten a good reception from the district’s voters, “This race is going to be close. It is going to be a sprint to the finish line.” He said his latest poll showed him behind Baker by two percentage points.
Baker said he feels he has strong support and his polls show he has a 15 to 17 percentage-point lead over White.
At the very least, the Senate education, public health and taxation committees also will have new chairman for next year’s regular session because the existing chairmen will be gone as a result of the state’s term-limits amendment. They are Argue, Critcher, and Sen. Jim Hill, D-Nashville, respectively. Sen. Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers, is the other term-limited senator.
Under the Senate’s rules, the chairmen of these committees are selected based on seniority and membership in the majority party.
Sen. Jimmy Jeffress, D-Crossett, co-chairman of the Joint Public Retirement Committee, has the most seniority among the majority party members of the education committee who aren’t term-limited.
Malone has the most seniority among majority party members of the public-health committee who aren’t term-limited.
And Sen. Paul Miller, D-Melbourne, chairman of the Senate Commerce and Insurance Committee, has the most seniority among members of the taxation committee who aren’t term-limited. Miller said he’s considering heading the committee.
The unopposed candidates for Senate seats are: District 1: Rep. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home District 2: Sen. Randy Laverty, D-Jasper
District 3: Whitaker
District 4: Trusty
District 7: Sen. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville District 8: Former Rep. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers
District 9: Hendren District 12: Rep. David Wyatt, D-Batesville District 17: Sen. Jim Luker, DWynne District 20: Former Rep. Larry Teague, D-Nashville District 23: Sen. Jerry Taylor, D-Pine Bluff District 24: Sen. Jimmy Jeffress
District 25: Sen. Gene Jeffress District 26: Malone District 31: Salmon District 33: Elliott
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