Chris Bequette lends $425,000 to run
Businessman is one of six GOP candidates in lieutenant governor race
Businessman Chris Bequette of Little Rock loaned $425,000 to his Republican campaign for lieutenant governor Thursday, he reported Monday.
He is one of six Republicans vying for the party’s nomination for lieutenant governor in the May 24 primary, which is three weeks from today. If none of the six candidates wins a majority of the votes in the primary, the two top voter-getters will advance to the June 21 primary.
Bequette’s $425,000 loan to his campaign boosted his total loans to his campaign to $440,000, according to his campaign finance report for April that he filed Monday. In total, he also reported raising $17,420.11 in contributions and spending $30,359.52 through the end of April for the primary, leaving a balance of $427,160.59.
The lieutenant governor’s salary is $46,704 a year. Under the Arkansas Constitution, the position’s duties are to preside over the 35-member state Senate with a tie-breaking vote and to serve as governor if the governor is impeached, removed from office, dies or is otherwise unable to discharge the office’s duties. The post is considered to be part-time.
Bequette’s loans totaling $440,000 to his primary campaign for lieutenant governor are not unprecedented.
Democratic candidate Bill Halter of North Little Rock — a former Clinton Administration official who departed the governor’s race in March of 2006 to run for lieutenant governor — reported loaning $900,300 to his primary campaign and then loaning $270,000 to his runoff campaign before he was elected as lieutenant governor in the 2006 general election.
“With these new funds added to our campaign, voters can rest assured I’ll be accountable only to them, not RINO PACs and greedy lobbyists representing Woke corporate interests,” Bequette said in a news release.
RINO refers to Republican In Name Only.
“Self-funding my campaign is consistent with being the only Lt. Governor candidate who will not take a salary or any taxpayer funds for the office,” he said.
Since 2007, he has been the owner of a wealth management practice, according to his campaign.
“Now that we are one of the top-funded campaigns in the race, we will have the ability to more effectively deliver our message of small and limited government, abolish the state income tax, crack down on crime, implement statewide school choice, rein in our outof-control public higher education system, rid our state of every illegal alien and end the ARHOME program,” Bequette said.
ARHOME is the Arkansas Health and Opportunity
for Me program, which is the current version of the state’s Medicaid expansion program that provides health insurance coverage to more than 300,000 low-income Arkansans.
Bequette announced his $425,000 loan to his campaign in a news release issued early Monday morning, after state Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, tweeted on Friday night that “I would never vote for @ChrisBequetteAR but I noticed he raised exactly $0 in March.
“So tonight when I saw him in White Hall I gave him a $1 bill & am proud to be his top donor in April!”
Asked about Ray’s tweet, Bequette said Monday that, “As the April report shows, the campaign infusion came well before such a ridiculous stunt.”
“The juvenile behavior was beneath the office he holds, and it epitomizes the failed Arkansas politicians who engage in petty acts to disguise their failed record to put in place real Republican policies,” he said in a written statement.
“Our message is resonating. … As a self-funded candidate, I will continue to call out politicians who are a part of the weak [Arkansas Gov. Asa] Hutchinson wing of the party and advocate for bold [Florida Gov. Ron] Desantis-style leadership.”
Besides loaning his campaign $425,000 on Thursday, Bequette reported receiving three contributions totaling $774.71 in April.
In response to Bequette’s remarks about him, Ray said in a written statement, “All jokes aside, I’ve observed Chris Bequette throughout this campaign and found him to be someone who will say anything, regardless of veracity, and is both completely uninformed and totally unfit to hold any public office of any kind.”
Ray, who is also campaign manager for Republican Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin’s campaign for attorney general, said he is speaking in his role as a state representative.
The other five Republican candidates for lieutenant governor are Attorney General Leslie Rutledge of Maumelle, state Rep. Jason Rapert of Conway, state Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe of Little Rock, former state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb of Benton, and Washington County Judge Joseph Wood of Fayetteville.
A campaign spokesman for Rutledge declined comment Monday about Bequette’s report about his $425,000 loan to his campaign.
Rapert said Monday in a text to the Democrat-Gazette that, “I am the only Lt. Governor candidate in this race who has been on the front lines in the Legislature winning conservative victories for our state.”
“It seems like Chris doesn’t want to do the hard work and travel around the state to speak to voters, but wants to buy this office for his personal use…,” he said.
Webb said Monday in a written statement that “someone who has had no involvement with the Republican Party would need to try and buy their way to relevancy, seeing as they have zero support from the grassroots.”
“Voters are smart enough to know the difference between the loudest blowhard in the room and someone who has put service above self,” said Webb, who reported loaning his campaign $40,365 through the end of March.
Bledsoe said Monday in a written statement that, “I’m not concerned with the actions of any of my opponents in this race.”
“We are laser-focused on running our race and explaining to the people of Arkansas how our platform of low taxes, fiscal responsibility, and small government contrasts with the records of the career politicians currently running for lieutenant governor,” said Bledsoe, who reported loaning his campaign $50,000 through the end of March.
Wood could not be reached by telephone or email by late Monday afternoon.
The Republican nominee for lieutenant governor will take on Democratic candidate Kelly Krout of Lowell and Libertarian candidate Frank Gilbert of Little Rock in the Nov. 8 general election.