Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bentonville mayor’s race draws concern
BENTONVILLE — The support of an out-of-state organization for one mayoral candidate has the others concerned.
Republican State Leadership Committee Inc., a Washington-based political action committee, spent more than $40,000 to support Jim Webb’s campaign for mayor, according to the committee’s expenditure report filed Tuesday with the Arkansas Secretary of State.
The money was spent to promote Webb, but wasn’t given directly to him.
Mayor is a nonpartisan position.
Webb said Wednesday afternoon he’s happy to be supported by advocates for Republican leaders but didn’t know about the group’s activity until he received a mailer himself.
“I do not know and have not communicated with this organization or individuals working for the organization,” Webb said in his statement.
David James, spokesman for the PAC, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon and described Webb as a “rising star in the Republican Party” and a “reliable conservative that Bentonville can count on to hold the line on taxes, grow jobs and address key quality of life issues like
traffic and education.”
James didn’t return a phone message before 6:30 p.m. and didn’t respond to an email when asked for another example of the PAC supporting a local race similar to Bentonville’s mayoral race.
Three of the other four mayoral candidates said they received mailers from the PAC supporting Webb.
“It’s really unfortunate to have an out-of-state group influence a nonpartisan election,” John Skaggs, mayoral candidate, said Wednesday afternoon.
Skaggs said he’s most concerned about future elections and this out-of-state support will have a “chilling effect” on local people wanting to run for office because they’ll feel like they can’t compete financially.
Campaign finance reports for money given directly to candidates were due at the Benton County Clerk’s Office on Tuesday. Reports for mayoral candidates show Webb received $48,450, Stephanie Orman received $10,015, Skaggs received $3,790 and Charlie Turner didn’t receive any money but spent just shy of $150. Terry Shannon reported to the clerk’s office that he didn’t receive or spend $500 campaigning, which is the threshold to require a report be filed.
Orman held a news conference Wednesday morning at Orchards Park pavilion to denounce nonlocal money being used to influence a local, nonpartisan mayoral race.
About 20 people attended, mostly Orman supporters and media.
Orman said she received mailers from the PAC in support of Webb.
“When I saw the first mailer I was a little offended,” Orman said. “Then I got two, three, four. It’s wrong.”
The committee spent $41,587 between Oct. 4 and Oct. 18. More than half of the expenditures — $21,587 — was spent on direct mailers and postage. Another $15,000 was spent on digital advertising, and $5,000 was used for digital billboard advertising.
Orman said she accepted $65 from one local PAC — the Benton County Republican Women.
“I don’t know if this will help or hurt my campaign,” Orman said about speaking out against out-of-state PACs. “We feel we have a pretty good ground game.”
She issued a statement Wednesday evening calling for local government officials, residents and community leaders to denounce the involvement of out-of-state organizations.
“This outsider group with east coast money lacks local credibility and provides no transparency into who is funding this particular investment and what their agenda is,” she said in her statement.
James said the Republican State Leadership Committee discloses money raised and spent from its 160,000 donors from 50 states. Contributors include large corporations, pharmaceutical companies, banks, organizations and individuals.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and related entities is one of the PAC’s largest donors and has given $1.76 million this year as of Sept. 30, according to the PAC’s contribution and expenditure report it filed this fall with the Internal Revenue Service. Walmart gave $100,000 on Feb. 23.
“Walmart has made no endorsements in the Bentonville mayoral race,” said Tara Aston, senior manager for national media relations at Walmart. “Walmart makes contributions to political organizations in a bipartisan way and has made membership contributions to the RSLC. However, none of those membership contributions are tied to any specific political candidates.”
Jay Barth, professor of politics at Hendrix College, said it’s fairly rare for a PAC to get involved involved in a local, nonpartisan election but it has happened.
Turner said he’s been wondering who has been paying for “all those mailers.”
“They need to keep their nose out of our business,” he said. “I don’t care if they’re Republican or Democrat. We’ve got too many outsiders sticking their nose in our business anyway.”
The mayoral race isn’t the only Arkansas race this PAC has been involved with. Arkansas Supreme Court Justice, Courtney Goodson, has filed a defamation suit against the Republican State Leadership Committee for attack ads against her in her re-election bid. Department of Human Services attorney David Sterling is her challenger.
A text message sent to Shannon was not returned before 7:30 p.m. The voicemail box on his phone was full and couldn’t receive any more messages.