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State GOP looking to build base, not take top seats, chairman says Wednesday, Mar 12, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The absence of any Republican challengers this year to the Democratic members of Arkansas' congressional delegation "didn't totally let the wind out of our sails," state Republican Party Chairman Dennis Milligan said Tuesday. By the close of the state's political filing period Monday, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor and U.S. Reps. Marion Berry of Gillett, Mike Ross of Prescott and Vic Snyder of Little Rock, all Democrats, had drawn no Republican opponents. "I was disappointed for sure, but you plan your work and you work your plan," Milligan said in an interview with the Arkansas News Bureau. That plan, Milligan said, is to rebuild the party from the ground up after being swept in statewide races and losing three state House seats in 2006. "We're not focusing at this point on top-tier positions," he said. "We're focusing on building a good, solid foundation that can withstand the load, and then being able to produce upper-echelon candidates in the future." Just six years ago, the party could boast of having Mike Huckabee in the governor's office, Win Rockefeller in the lieutenant governor's office, Tim Hutchinson in the U.S. Senate and John Boozman and Jay Dickey in the U.S. House. Also, back then, the GOP had not lost seats in the Legislature in a decade. Since then, however, all but Boozman have been replaced by Democrats, and the GOP has lost seats in the Legislature in the past two elections. No Republicans filed this year to run for any of the 27 state Senate seats now under Democratic control. Republicans did file for 13 of the 75 state House seats held by Democrats. "We've gone from having a number of people in high positions to having to scratch and claw for everything we can," Milligan said. He said the party got into that position by becoming complacent, and "now we're paying the price for that complacency." The GOP may also be paying the price for divisions within the party, according to Susan Power of Jonesboro, political science professor emeritus at Arkansas State University and a Republican. Economic conservatives and evangelical Christians within the party have often been at odds, Power said. Divisions also existed between Huckabee and Republicans in Northwest Arkansas, the state's largest Republican stronghold. Huckabee "didn't do much to help build the infrastructure of the party itself in the state," Power said. "When he took over the governor's office (he was) cheered by Asa Hutchinson and those folks from Northwest Arkansas, but of course Huckabee is not from that area. So there are geographical and regional overlays." Now, the state GOP is focused on building a brighter future, Executive Director Karen Ray said. "These Quorum Court seats and these county seats and then the legislative seats have really been what we've focused on," Ray said. "We've had a lot of training for these folks, we've had information sessions. I've been calling JP candidates all over the state, and so has Dennis Milligan." Several counties long under Democratic control will have two-party races this year, Ray said. One of those is Poinsett County. "We're working now on the grassroots level, and we're trying to elect Quorum Court members," Poinsett County GOP Chairman J.C. Lassiter said. "We have two Quorum Court JP (candidates) running and a constable (candidate) running, and we think we're really doing something." Former lawmaker Bill Walters of Greenwood, who served as a Republican in the state Senate from 1983-2000, surprised many when he filed last week to succeed his wife, Rep. Shirley Walters, R-Greenwood, running as a Democrat. "I know how things work at the state Capitol," Walters said Tuesday. "You have to have a certain number of people agree with you to get anything done down there, and being a Democrat makes it much easier to get people to agree with you." Terry Rice, a furniture store owner from Waldron, filed to run for the District 62 seat as a Republican. Rice said being in the minority doesn't discourage him. "Sometimes you get lost in a crowd, and the ones out there standing in a smaller group might be better seen than the ones standing in a crowd," he said. Power said the future does not look particularly bright for either party. The combination of term limits for legislators and the lack of term limits for county offices makes it difficult to keep good lawmakers in public life, she said. "All the county judges are (effectively) in for life. So after you get out of that state Legislature, where do you go?" she said. |
