Veteran lawmaker slights district, challenger says

BENTONVILLE — The House chairman of the Arkansas Legislative Council faces a Democratic challenger for the second time in his five-year political career.

Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, faces Gayatri Agnew in her first bid for political office. Agnew said she is running in part because Dotson is too preoccupied with ideological issues. Dotson said he remains committed to his district.

The core of District 93 is in Bentonville, but it reaches to eastern Centerton in the south and west and the border of Little Flock on the east. Early voting begins Oct. 22, and election day is Nov. 6.

“There are probably 10 times as many doors to knock in Centerton’s part of this district than there were the last time I ran,” Dotson said in an interview. The fast-growing district probably has as many or more people to represent as any House district in the state, he said, since the last time district lines were drawn. Those boundaries are set after each U.S. Census is done every 10 years. The next head count is set for 2020. Since the last census, Benton County overall has grown by 20 percent, according to federal Census Bureau estimates.

The Legislative Council is the committee that keeps watch over state government when the Legislature is not in session. It has two chairmen, one for the House and one for the Senate. The responsibility of the council has grown with recently added duties, such as legislative oversight of state regulations, Dotson said. The House Speaker appoints the council chairman for that chamber.

“The chairman of the Legislative Council is second only to the Speaker in the House,” Dotson said. “Eightyfive percent of the time, the Legislature is out of session, and what the council does largely shapes what happens during the sessions.”

For instance, much of the state budget is determined before a session begins, he said. “I have a consistent record of holding budgets in

check,” he said.

“I have a consistent, proven conservative track record,” Dotson said. “This is a Republican majority state with a Republican majority Legislature. That is not going to change. Gov. Asa Hutchinson is going to get re-elected — I’m confident of that — and I have a good working relationship with him. I can be more effective than my opponent.”

Agnew disagreed. What Dotson can do with his position as chairman is one thing. What he chooses to spend his time on is another, she said.

“When I’m knocking on doors, people are not asking me partisan questions,” Agnew said. “They are asking about Bentonville schools most of all.”

They also ask about roads and better-paying jobs, she said. Bentonville is a prosperous city but with a growing wage gap, Agnew said. Bridging gaps like that and

improving prospects is directly related to her job with a charitable foundation and her career prior to moving to Bentonville.

“District 93 needs an advocate,” Agnew said. She and her husband moved to this community and fell in love with it, she said.

The Legislature Dotson helps lead is riddled with corruption, she said. Five former Arkansas lawmakers stand convicted of public corruption in an ongoing federal investigation, and another faces trial in federal court.

That is a bipartisan problem, Agnew said. “If these were Democrats I’d be saying

the same thing,” she said. “People don’t feel connected to their government and that it is all a racket.”

State House members serve two-year terms and have an annual salary of $39,400.

Dotson

Agnew