Pence campaigns in Little Rock
House majority at stake in Nov. 6 elections
Vice President Mike Pence speaks Friday at a rally in downtown Little Rock for U.S. Rep. French Hill, who is facing a challenge from state Rep. Clarke Tucker. Pence praised Hill as one of the most respected conservative leaders in the country.
Vice President Mike Pence on Friday heralded U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., as one of the most respected conservative leaders in the country.
Appearing at a Hill campaign rally in downtown Little Rock, the Republican vice president encouraged everyone to vote Nov. 6 and to urge their friends to do the same.
Hill, Pence said, has shown he’ll step up and “take the tough votes.”
“Time after time when it came to roll back red tape, unleash American energy, cut your taxes, Congressman French Hill was there again and again and again fighting for families in Arkansas,” Pence said.
Hill, a two-term incumbent, is facing a challenge from state Rep. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock. Democrats both locally and nationally have identified Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District seat as one they hope to flip in November.
Republicans have said they’re confident Hill will win re-election, but they’re
taking the race seriously because Tucker has a well-financed campaign.
Pence has made appearances in a handful of House and Senate districts across the U.S., stumping for Republican candidates with competitive midterm races. Earlier on Friday, he appeared at an American Conservative Union event in Tennessee where he campaigned for U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who is locked in a tight Senate race.
Pence, a former U.S. representative and governor of Indiana, praised Hill, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., repeatedly in his 20-minute speech.
Pence also touted increases in national defense spending, tax changes and economic growth since he and President Donald Trump took office at the outset of 2017.
“I’m here because I stand with President Donald Trump, and we stand with Congressman French Hill,” he said.
Pence’s visit comes during a midterm election cycle when Republicans are fighting to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives. Losing that majority, Pence said, would put the Trump administration’s progress at risk.
“His opponent, Clarke Tucker, frankly doesn’t stand for Arkansas values,” Pence said. “Truth is, he’s too liberal for this district and too liberal for this state.”
He criticized Tucker for supporting Hillary Clinton’s presidential run in 2016, and he said Tucker’s first vote would be to make U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaker of the House.
“I’m telling you what, I was there last time that happened,” Pence said. “And you don’t want that to happen again, trust me.”
Hill and Republican groups have tied Tucker to Pelosi since he won the Democratic primary in May. Tucker has maintained that he thinks there should be new leadership in both parties, and he has said he wouldn’t vote to make Pelosi the speaker.
Hill addressed the crowd for about 10 minutes before introducing Pence. He said he decided to run for Congress in 2013 because he thought the leaders in Washington, D.C., didn’t know how to get the U.S. out of “its economic downturn.”
Hill said he spent his first
two years in office fighting then-President Barack Obama’s administration “tooth and nail.” His second term, Hill said, has been spent enacting common-sense policies that have put the U.S. in a better place than it was two years ago.
“There’s no doubt that America is stronger, our families safer and that our economy is thriving,” Hill said. “There’s still much more to do.
“We must fix our broken immigration system. We must replace the failed Affordable Care Act with legislation that we pass and that we know what’s in it and that we deliver on the promises made so long ago of accessibility to care, affordability of care and that we protect all of our fellow citizens that have a pre-existing condition. And we need to continue to make good progress in the upcoming Congress for our veterans to make sure that they have the care and the benefits that they earned.”
Tucker on Thursday said he was “excited” Pence was visiting the 2nd Congressional District because it showed the GOP is worried.
“The Vice President of the United States coming to town shows that Congressman Hill knows he is vulnerable in this election because he has a record that’s indefensible to voters,” Tucker said in a statement. “Vice President Pence supports my opponent because Congressman Hill is a reliable, party-line voter for a healthcare policy that would make [health] care much more difficult or impossible for people like me and the million Arkansans with a preexisting condition.”
Hill was interrupted at one point by four protesters, including former Democratic congressional candidate Gwen Combs. Law enforcement officials escorted the protesters from the hall after they disrupted the event and unveiled a banner reading “72,000 dead from opioid OD in 2017. French Hill voted to cut addiction treatment.”
The crowd drowned out the protesters with chants of “USA, USA, USA.”
The protesters were asked for photo identification but were not detained.
Combs, who finished second in the May 22 Democratic primary that Tucker won outright, has also protested on Capitol Hill against Republican health care policies.
In front of the convention center, roughly three dozen people also demonstrated.
Their signs and buttons carried slogans such as “French is Toast” and “Repeal
and Replace French Hill.”
A souvenir seller peddled a variety of buttons, including: “Trump 2020,” “CNN Sucks!” and “I’m a Adorable Deplorable.”
In addition to “Make America Great Again” caps, there were also U.S. Border Patrol hats and buttons reading “Today’s Illegals, Tomorrow’s Democrats.”
Supporters who attended the speech gave it high marks.
“I think Pence is a wonderful VP. He’s easy in his own skin, he knows what he believes, he knows why, and he’s able to share that in a way that, I think, resonates,” said Kevin Pfalser of Cabot.
James McGee traveled from Hensley to hear the speech. His presence was a show of support for the vice president’s boss, he said.
“I really don’t know a whole lot about [Hill], but if Trump’s man supports him, I do, too.”
Twanette Clark of Cabot showed up to protest against the incumbent. She carried a sign that said: “On Nov. 6, Hill out, Tucker in.”
Clark said she’s concerned about environmental policies and opposes the current administration.
“I don’t agree with Trump’s policies, if he has any, and I’m scared about what’s happening with the Supreme Court,” she said. “I have two grandchildren. This is their future.”
A handful of Hill’s friends spoke about the candidate early in the afternoon, and Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, Cotton and Hutchinson were there to support Hill.
Cotton and Rutledge attacked Tucker’s views on immigration, and Hutchinson pointed out that Tucker didn’t support state measures to block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood and impose a work requirement on able-bodied Medicaid recipients.
“There is only one reason why the Democrats in Washington are targeting French Hill,” Cotton said. “And that is because the Pelosi Democrats know that they cannot take back the majority without winning a seat like the 2nd Congressional District of central Arkansas.”
Pence ended his speech saying that Arkansas and America would be safer and more prosperous than ever before with Hill and Cotton on Capitol Hill and Hutchinson at the state Capitol.
“To borrow a phrase, we will make Arkansas and America great again,” Pence said to the loudest applause of the evening.