Gates is certified as GOP nominee
But party votes not to back him
BENTON — Delegates at the state Republican Party’s convention Saturday voted to certify state Rep. Mickey Gates as the Republican nominee for his House seat but didn’t endorse his re-election. Gates, a Hot Springs Republican, faces criminal charges of failing to pay state income taxes or file returns.
The action divided the approximately 400 delegates at the state convention, at which the party’s 12-page platform was approved without debate.
In a separate vote, the delegates decided to certify Republican nominees for congressional, state constitutional, state House and state Senate offices in the wake of the May 22 primary election.
In addition, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson urged fellow Republicans to take nothing for granted in the Nov. 6 general election, although GOP members hold all of the state’s six congressional seats, all seven state constitutional offices and large majorities in the state House and Senate.
After the convention, state Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Doyle
Webb of Benton declined to disclose how many delegates voted for the motion by Saline County delegate Andrew Branch to certify Gates as the party nominee in House District 22.
But it appeared that about twice as many delegates stood to show their support for Branch’s motion as stood to show opposition.
The convention was legally required to certify Gates as the GOP nominee for his House seat under a 1994 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit filed by GOP attorney general candidate Dan Ivy against the state Republican Party, Webb said.
In a 5-2 ruling in September of 1994, the state Supreme Court ordered the party to certify Ivy after it initially declined to do so. Ivy was convicted of third-degree battery in the beating of his wife.
On June 28, Gates was arrested on six counts of failing to pay state income taxes or file returns. An Arkansas State Police affidavit said he owes almost $260,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest.
But Gates has said he’s innocent and that he’s been dealing with the authorities in good faith to address the matter.
Gates has declined to resign from his
House seat, despite requests by Hutchinson and fellow Republicans Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and state Rep. Charlie Collins of Fayetteville.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jared Henderson, state Democratic Party Chairman Michael John Gray, who is a state representative from Augusta, and House Democratic leader Charles Blake of Little Rock also have urged Gates to step down.
At Saturday’s convention, Branch urged party delegates to approve his motion to certify Gates.
“I think I and everybody else here want to see him afforded the same due process every other citizen in Arkansas is given,” he said. ”We are not asking that it be removed. We are saying that it is dangerous for this party, one that so many people work for, to endorse a candidate that is under indictment.
“I heard somebody say that there are 10 other people who can be thrown into this same category. I don’t think any of them have been indicted. So this isn’t a suspicion. There was enough evidence to indict this individual. I, like everybody else, hopes he is innocent and, if he is, I’ll apologize to him in person,” said Branch, who is vice president of housing at the Arkansas Development Finance Authority.
“But today, as a party, we need to say that if somebody is under indictment, they probably should not be a candidate for office in this party,” Branch said.
Garland County Republican Committee Chairman Matt McKee urged the delegates to reject Branch’s motion.
“I think, as a party, one who supports our constitutional rights and freedoms, we understand each and every one of us that we are innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “I think that is important, that as a party we represent those values and demonstrate those values in our actions every day. I think individuals make mistakes, individuals make bad decisions. But we always give them their day in court.”
“While certifying an election result does not mean that we agree or disagree with the actions of the individual, we have an individual who has worked for over 30 years in support for the Republican Party candidates and ideas, and to throw them under the bus for political accusations and just really weak-kneed politics, I think would not be wise … and ultimately be a little bit disgraceful,” McKee said.
Jefferson County Election Commissioner Stu Soffer countered that it is embarrassing that Gates didn’t file income tax returns for 15 years.
Gates did not answer three telephone messages seeking comment Saturday afternoon after the GOP meeting ended.
In the Nov. 6 general election, Hot Springs Democrat Kevin Rogers is seeking to oust Gates, who survived a primary challenge May 22.
Recent federal investigations have led to the convictions or guilty pleas of five former state lawmakers: Rep. Micah Neal, R-Springdale; Rep. Eddie Cooper, D-Melbourne; Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith; Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale; and Rep. Hank Wilkins, D-Pine Bluff.
Lobbyist Milton “Rusty” Cranford’s guilty plea in federal court in June accused “Senator A” — acknowledged as Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, by his attorney — of accepting payoffs along with Wilkins and Woods. Jeremy Hutchinson hasn’t been charged or indicted. Through his attorney, he has denied any wrongdoing. The governor, Jeremy Hutchinson’s uncle, has said Jeremy Hutchinson should resign if he’s indicted.
Earlier Saturday, the governor told the GOP delegates that “even though we are in the majority in Arkansas, we can’t take it for granted.”
“We have got to be hungry,” he said. “But if we sit back and say, ‘This year is going to be easy.’ If we sit back and say, ‘Well, let’s just take it for granted, it is going to happen anyway because we are a red state,’ then we are headed for challenges here in Arkansas.
“We have to be out working, and we have to outwork the other side. We have to sell ourselves. We have to be engaged. We have to phone back and we have to work for the candidates that are offering themselves this year,” the governor said.
Republican Secretary of State candidate John Thurston of East End asked the Republican delegates for their help because, he said, “the Democrats are going to be coming after this particular seat” with Democratic candidate Susan Inman of Little Rock.
The state Board of Apportionment will redraw the legislative district boundaries in 2021, and “believe me this will be the first time that Democrats have not been at the table during redistricting since Reconstruction,” said Thurston, who is currently the state land commissioner.
The Board of Apportionment is composed of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state.