Category Archives: Elections

Voters have say on depleting field

Elections

March 3, 2020

By Steve Brawner
© 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

For the second straight presidential election, Arkansas scheduled its primary early and then watched mostly from afar as a large field dwindled. The upside: At least voters here had their say while the nomination was still in doubt. The downside: It’s one more way that the system gives an advantage to incumbents.

When Arkansans went to the polls that day, 18 names were on the Democratic presidential ballot, but most of the candidates had dropped out and only four were still competitive: Sen. Bernie Sanders, the outsider disruptor the party establishment wishes would go away; former Vice President Joe Biden; former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

When the day started, Sanders was the frontrunner. When it ended, Biden, whose campaign looked to be dead in the water only a week earlier, had become the clear frontrunner. The next day, Bloomberg had decided to stop spending his money, and Warren was having to decide whether or not to stop spending her energies.

In politics, a lot can happen quickly. Continue reading Voters have say on depleting field →

Riding off before the sun has set

Elections, State government

Feb. 25, 2020

By Steve Brawner
© 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Scott Bennett has often had one of the most frustrating tasks at the State Capitol. Last week he announced he was leaving his job, just before there might not be a reason to be so frustrated anymore.

Bennett has been the Arkansas Department of Transportation’s director for nine years. Each legislative session he’s pleaded for more money for his department, which he says is underfunded by about $478 million annually.

That shortfall is the result of three factors, Bennett has argued. First, state and federal fuel taxes hadn’t been raised in decades and weren’t tied to inflation. Meanwhile, construction costs have risen. Finally, fuel-efficient cars are burning less gas and therefore are generating less in gas taxes. The bottom line has been that ARDOT needs money, or else it can only manage the highway system’s decline.

Many legislators have been sympathetic. Others say ARDOT is wasting too much money or not building roads in the right places (translation, my district). Some have argued that parts of the state’s really big highway system – it’s bigger than California’s – should be transferred to local control. Continue reading Riding off before the sun has set →

Her name’s Mosie, and she’s running for president

Elections

Feb. 20, 2020

By Steve Brawner
© 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Were you watching the New Hampshire presidential primary results Feb. 12? Fort Smith’s Mosemarie “Mosie” Boyd was, because she was on the ballot.

The founding attorney of the True Grit Law Firm collected 32 votes and placed 25th in New Hampshire, then drove all night through a snowstorm to Cleveland and flew to her home state of California to campaign there. She spoke with me Sunday from Fair Oaks, where she attended high school and where her mother has a campaign sign in her yard near that state’s governor’s home.

“She’s very proud that he and his security detail drive by my presidential campaign sign every morning on his way to work,” she said.

Boyd, 50, planned to spend this week campaigning in California before returning to Arkansas. Both states have their primaries March 3. She’ll be one of 18 candidates on the Democratic Party ballot here. Continue reading Her name’s Mosie, and she’s running for president →

Primary ballots: Not much to vote about

Elections

Feb. 18, 2020

By Steve Brawner
© 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Early voting has begun in Arkansas’ March 3 primary elections, which feature a Democratic presidential race, an Arkansas Supreme Court race, and not much else.

Eighteen presidential candidates are on the Democratic ballot, but most have suspended their campaigns. If former Vice President Joe Biden doesn’t win South Carolina Feb. 29, then by March 3 the field of serious contenders may have winnowed to five: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Thirteen other states along with Arkansas vote March 3. The next day, it could be down to Sanders and Bloomberg. Sanders has a base of supporters committed to his socialist candidacy. He spoke to a crowd of 17,000 in Washington state Monday. That’s a Trump-like number. Bloomberg has a base of billions of dollars and the increasing attention of traditional Democrats who fear what Sanders will do to their party if he’s the nominee.

On the Republican side, two other names are on the ballot alongside President Trump’s. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld ran for vice president in 2016 as a Libertarian and hoped this year to position himself as some kind of return to post-Trump Republican normalcy. That ain’t happening, at least not this year. Rocky De La Fuente is also on the ballot, but he was never a serious candidate and has dropped out. Continue reading Primary ballots: Not much to vote about →