Category Archives: Politics

Ross not running for re-election

Rep. Mike Ross announced today that he would not seek re-election, citing a desire to spend more time with family and frustration with Congress as well as conflicts that would occur if he were to run for governor in 2014.

Ross said he made the decision yesterday. He spoke with Gov. Beebe that morning.

Ross explained the sudden nature of his announcement by saying that if he didn’t do it now, there would not be an opportunity for several weeks while Congress is in session. Several fundraisers are scheduled in upcoming weeks, he said. Those have been cancelled.

Ross indicated that he thought he would have won re-election in 2012 but did give some hint as to the difficulties of doing so. He described his district as “Republican-leaning” and said he would not have beaten Jay Dickey had he not run in 2000, a presidential election year, when he said Democrats have higher turnout than in nonpresidential election years.

He said he has given strong thought to running for governor but has not made a decision. He said that, given the time demands of serving in Congress, it would have been very difficult to run for governor 2014, when Beebe will be term-limited.

Independent Rogers would have joined the Democratic caucus

D’James Rogers, who placed second in the July 12 District 54 special election to represent Crittenden County, said today that he would have joined the Democratic caucus if elected.

Rogers ran as an independent because he wanted an African-American to represent the majority-minority district rather than the eventual winner, newly sworn in Rep. Hudson Hallum (D-Marion). Hallum, who is caucasian, had defeated two African-Americans in the Democratic primary.

Hallum won the July 12 special election held after Rep. Fred Smith (D-Crawfordsville) resigned following a felony conviction.

According to unofficial returns, Hallum received 987 votes, while Rogers received 437. Republican John Greelan received 415 votes.

Rogers said that, if he had won, he would have governed as a Democrat. He has been actively working with Democrats since 2000 and was the regional field director for last year’s coordinated campaign.

Rogers said that running as an independent was difficult in a district dominated by Democrats. Naturally, he received no help from the Democratic Party and struggled to raise money. “I didn’t get any support from them,” he said. “It was like, ‘We’ll talk to you once the election is over with.’”

He campaigned with the help of family and friends and used social media to communicate his message. He said African-American leaders in the district did support him.

He said he would run again some time in the future and would do so as a Democrat.

Rep. Sanders drawn out of his own district

Looking for a nice four-bedroom home near I-430 in Little Rock? Rep. David Sanders has had his on the market since April.

Sanders started hearing rumors during the session that he likely would be drawn out of his district by the Board of Apportionment, the three-person panel made up of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state that is redrawing districts based on 2010 census data.

Two of the panelists, Gov. Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, are Democrats. The third, Secretary of State Mark Martin, is a Republican.

Under maps produced by the majority Democrats, Sanders’ precinct was bumped from his existing district, District 31, which encompasses parts of west Little Rock, Pulaski County, and Saline County, for District 33, which encompasses central and southwest Little Rock.

Unless your name is Nick Wilson, you have to live in the district you represent, so Sanders would have to run in his new district if the maps are finalized.

District 31 is represented by Rep. Fred Allen, a term-limited Democrat. It’s a majority-minority district and not one where Sanders, a conservative Republican, would be likely to win.

“There’s a certain principle of continuity of constituency,” Sanders said. “The people who voted overwhelmingly for me to be their representative are the people of my home district, 31, and so that’s my district. I still represent that district and will continue to represent that district.”

Sanders had five children and said he needed a bigger house anyway.

There’s no love lost between Gov. Beebe and Sanders, a young and energetic House Republican finance chairman who opposed Beebe’s prison reform in the last session.

Along with Sanders, other GOP legislators drawn into substantially new districts are Sens. Jason Rapert of Bigelow, Jonathan Dismang of Beebe and Eddie Joe Williams of Cabot. Republican Reps. Gary Stubblefield of Branch and Jon Eubanks of Paris would be in District 84 and would have to run against each other.

Two incumbent Democrats, Rep. Garry Smith of Camden and David Fielding of Magnolia, would be in the 5th District and would have to run against each other.

Sanders sponsored and passed a bill in the last legislative session that required a “cooling off” period where regulators cannot work in the industries that they regulate for one year after leaving government. Other bills restricted the activities of sports agents and made student participation in Junior ROTC programs count as health credits.

What if Uncle Sam became a deadbeat dad?

Of course, President Obama, the House and the Senate are going to find some way to merge their competing plans and raise the debt ceiling before August 2.

But what if they don’t?

Two things would happen.

First, the global economy, already shaky, would become even more so. The world’s safest investment, the United States government, would become a lot less safe. Don’t believe it? Consider how the world has reacted to little Greece’s troubles.

Second, the debt would grow, not shrink, despite what some congressmen are telling us. American taxpayers currently pay a very low interest rate on the debt because the government is seen as such a safe investment. What happens if the government is no longer seen as a safe borrower? The same thing that happens if you or I are seen as unsafe borrowers – investors demand higher interest rates in exchange for their capital. Who will pay those higher interest rates? Taxpayers.

Here’s more in this week’s Arkansas News Bureau column.