Democrats install new chairman

SPRINGDALE — The Democratic Party of Arkansas held a state committee meeting in Washington County for the first time since 1996, but newly installed party Chairman Vincent Insalaco recommended that people shouldn’t read too much into the location of Saturday’s get-together.

The Democratic Party will appeal to constituencies, not regional interests, in 2014, Insalaco said after the meeting. Those constituencies will include people affected by recent votes in the Republican-controlled U.S. House on issues such as interest on student loans, farming and Social Security.

Those issues will draw votes in GOP-dominated Northwest Arkansas, he said.

“Explain to me how somebody living in Fayetteville who receives Social Security and worries about how their grandkids are going to pay back their student loans is any different from somebody facing the same issues while living in Little Rock or Blytheville,” Insalaco said.

Insalaco’s name was put forward as the replacement for departing Chairman Will Bond of Jacksonville at the request of both former U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, the sole declared Democratic candidate for governor, and Gov. Mike Beebe, the term-limited Democratic incumbent.

Insalaco, of North Little Rock, was elected without dissent by committee members from throughtout the state in a vote at the Springdale Holiday Inn and Convention Center. The meeting was attended by U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, Ross and all the declared Democratic candidates for state constitutional offices.

Doyle Webb, Republican Party state chairman, responded to Insalaco’s comments. “I’m not surprised that the new chairman of the state Democratic Party started out using smoke and mirrors in an attempt to distract Arkansans from the failed policies of President Barack Obama,” he said. “The devastating effect of Obamacare on the economy and the lackluster economic recovery. The fact is they have nothing positive to run on, but I look forward to working with him in the future for the betterment of Arkansas.”