4 GOP top-job names still on ballot in state

WASHINGTON — Of the four names on the May 22 Arkansas Republican presidential primary ballot, one has dropped out of the running and another, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, is missing in action.

Gingrich’s campaign has sputtered in recent weeks. He hasn’t won a state since the March 6 contest in Georgia, and his staff has reportedly dwindled to a skeleton crew.

Since then, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has emerged as the presumptive Republican nominee.

Several Gingrich supporters in Arkansas said they’ll continue to support the former speaker but doubt he can pull off a win.

“The writing’s on the wall,” said Arkansas state Rep. Justin Harris, an early Gingrich supporter. “Mitt Romney has it wrapped up.”

Romney, Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul will be on the Arkansas ballot in May, in addition to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who has suspended his campaign.

Paul, a Texas Republican, has failed to win a single primary but leads the pack in Arkansas contributions. Arkansans have contributed $95,232 to Paul’s campaign, followed by $71,446 to Romney and $58,330 to Gingrich.

President Barack Obama,

a Democrat, has received $185,681, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Six calls placed to Gingrich’s Atlanta campaign headquarters over the past week were not returned.

Gingrich hasn’t returned calls placed by Harris, either.

“I’ve reached out to him, and I haven’t heard anything back,” Harris said. “I think it’s over, and he knows it.”

The only Republican on the ballot who plans a visit to the state is Santorum, who is to speak at the Benton County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner on May 11.

Dennis Milligan, circuit clerk of Saline County and former chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, supports Gingrich but says he has not heard whether Gingrich will visit the state before the primary.

“He plays well in Arkansas,” Mulligan said.

“He would be well-received.”

Gale Gill, a Little Rock retired small-business owner and author of a self-published mystery novel Death is Just the Beginning, made four donations totaling $400 to Gingrich’s campaign in October and November.

But although she still likes the former speaker, she said, he’s a lost cause.

“I kind of gave up on him,” Gill said. “He’s too intellectual to get elected. He doesn’t speak in those precious little sound bites people can latch onto.”

Charles Vondran Jr., a Little Rock orthodontist who donated $500 to Gingrich in February, still plans to vote for the Georgian. He said Gingrich had a “stronger conservative message” than Romney.

“I hate to see that he didn’t catch on stronger,” he said. “I still support him, but he’s not going to be able to pull through.”

Doyle Webb, chairman of the state Republican Party, said none of the campaigns has contacted him about visiting the state.

Webb predicted that no single GOP candidate will be the clear winner in Arkansas.

“I anticipate there will be delegates allocated to several of the presidential candidates,” he said.

The candidates are running to secure the allegiance of 36 delegates in Arkansas — three from the Republican National Committee, 12 congressional district delegates and 21 at-large delegates.

Under party rules, a Republican candidate who receives at least 15 percent of the vote statewide is allocated one at-large delegate and one congressional district delegate. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, he is allocated the remaining at-large delegates. If there is no clear majority winner, the remaining atlarge delegates are split proportionately among the top three candidates.

Arkansas’ Republican U.S. Reps. Tim Griffin and Steve Womack have endorsed Romney, while Rick Crawford has not endorsed a candidate. On Tuesday, Arkansas’ U.S. Sen. John Boozman’s spokesman Patrick Creamer said Boozman will support the Republican nominee, “and it certainly seems like Gov. Romney is going to be that person.”

Griffin, who is Romney’s Arkansas chairman, said that had Santorum stayed in the race, the primary would have been competitive. He predicted a Romney victory in the primary and an easy win in Arkansas for the Massachusetts governor in November’s general election.

Griffin said Romney will likely visit Arkansas after the primary, but “no date has been set in stone.”

Former Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson, another Arkansas Romney supporter, said he hopes Romney comes to Arkansas so voters get to know him better.

But Romney, or any Republican at the top of the ballot, should glide to an easy victory in Arkansas over Obama, he predicted.

“Arkansas is pretty much in the safe column for Republicans,” he said.

Webb, the state GOP chairman, said candidates might stop in Arkansas while en route to the Texas Republican primary on May 29.

Doing so, he said, would help generate enthusiasm among voters.

“Arkansans like to see you and touch you and get to know you,” he said.

Harris said he’s not likely to get too jazzed up about Romney unless Romney picks a running mate who appeals to conservative voters.

“I’m not enthusiastic, but I’ll become enthusiastic for anyone but Obama,” Harris said.