1st District contest gains 3rd Democrat

GOP touts record number of state filings

Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington of Jonesboro made it a three-way Democratic primary in eastern Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District, joining the race Thursday, the final day for candidates to file for state and federal offices in Arkansas in this year’s elections.

State Rep. Clark Hall of Marvell and economist Gary Latanich of Jonesboro filed earlier for the May 22 primary to determine who will be the nominee against Republican incumbent Rick Crawford of Jonesboro in the Nov. 6 general election.

Republicans hold three of the state’s four U.S. House seats, the lone Democrat being the 4th District’s Mike Ross of Prescott, who isn’t seeking a seventh term as he considers whether to run for governor in 2014.

There also will be primary contests in the 4th District on May 22 among three Democrats and among three Republicans.

In the week- long filing period, 289 candidates filed — 136 Democrats, 124 Republicans and 29 nonpartisan judicial candidates, said Alex Reed, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office — with independents, writeins, Libertarians and Greens yet to come.

The race for control of the Legislature starts with getting candidates to file, and it’s close between Democrats and Republicans. Thirty-two Democrats and 31 Republicans filed for the state Senate, which currently has 20 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Ninety-four Democrats and 83 Republicans filed for the state House of Representatives, which now is made up of 54 Democrats and 46 Republicans.

This is the most Republican legislative candidates ever in Arkansas, said Katherine Vasilos, a spokesman for the state GOP.

In the 2010 election, Republicans linked Democrats to President Barack Obama as the GOP won the offices of lieutenant governor, secretary of state and land commissioner, 15 seats in the state Senate, 44 in the 100-seat House, as well as increasing from one to four that the number of the state’s six congressional seats the party holds.

In advance of this year’s elections, Democrats contend the anti-obama tide has waned and are linking themselves to popular Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s policies.

Ellington said he decided to run for the Democratic nomination in the 1st District because he’s “the candidate who can beat Rick Crawford.”

“I am going up to Washington to try to help the people of the 1st District, not necessarily do partisan politics,” said Ellington.

He said he believes he has a better chance than Clark or Latanich of defeating Crawford because the judicial district that he repre-

sents as prosecutor includes some of the largest counties in the congressional district — Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Mississippi and Poinsett counties.

“The Republicans beat the Democrats over the head with [U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California] more than they did Obama the last time,” Ellington said.

But, he said, “folks are taking a fresh look.”

Last August, three men convicted in the 1993 slayings of three West Memphis 8year-olds walked out of court as free men after pleading guilty to murder under an unusual agreement negotiated by Ellington. He has said that he was prepared to try the three men again and believes they are guilty, but he felt they could be acquitted because of new evidence, the deaths of some witnesses and the “changed minds” of others.

“Right now, we have seen that justice is done” in that case, he said. “I compromised, which is something that I think the current congressman hasn’t done very well. I reached a compromise and we resolved the issues for the best interest of justice, and for the best interest of the state, and for the best interest of the people in my district.”

Asked whether the West Memphis case would be an issue, Hall said, “As I understand it from what I have heard from the polls and other things like what people say in the coffee shops, it’s still a hot issue.”

Hall said he doesn’t know whether he would raise the case as an issue.

Latanich’s campaign manager, Peter Grumbles, said Ellington’s decision to run for the seat “proves what we’ve been saying all along, that the establishment darling Clark Hall is deflating.”

“Our campaign will leave questions surrounding the ‘West Memphis Three’ to the voters,” Grumbles said. “Our focus will remain fixing the economy, focusing on education and crafting an effective government that works for the families in Arkansas’ 1st District.”

On Thursday, John Wolfe, an attorney from Chattanooga, Tenn., filed to challenge Obama in Arkansas for the Democratic nomination for president. Obama “has betrayed the progressives,” surrounded himself with “Wall Streeters,” raised military spending, and “he’s not getting us out of Afghanistan,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. House seat in Tennessee in 2010. He said he’s also running for the Democratic nomination for president in Louisiana, Missouri and New Hampshire.

Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have filed to be on the Arkansas primary ballot.

EX-GLOBETROTTER FILES

Former state Rep. Fred Smith, D-crawfordsville, who resigned that seat in January 2011, filed for state House District 50. He was found guilty of theft of property delivered by mistake, a felony. Circuit Judge Sam Pope ordered Smith to pay restitution of $29,250 to the Dermott School District, suspended a 12-month prison sentence and placed him on probation in February 2011.

State Democratic Party Chairman Will Bond of Little Rock said that when Smith showed up to file, “we were initially under the impression” that the conviction had not been expunged, and therefore there could be a question about his eligibility to file.

“My understanding from his lawyer is the judge in that case has an order under consideration for expungement,” Bond said.

State Rep. Hudson Hallum, D-marion, also has filed for the seat.

Smith, a former Harlem Globetrotter, said he wants to run “because I want to clear my name. I will give God all the glory and I went through a storm. ... I am the Tim Tebow of state representatives,” he said, referring to the Denver Broncos quarterback.

OTHER PARTIES

The Libertarian Party of Arkansas will decide on its candidates April 14 in Little Rock, said Rodger Paxon of Marion, chairman of the party.

The Green Party of Arkansas’ state nominating convention will be May 6 at a location to be determined, according to Jim Lendall of Mabelvale, the party’s chairman for policies and positions.

Candidates nominated by Libertarian and Green parties are required to submit paperwork by May 22 under state law, said Alex Reed, a spokesman for the secretary of state.

Write-in and independent candidates also were required to file by the Thursday deadline, with independents being required to complete their filings by submitting their petitions with signatures of registered voters by May 1, Reed said. A dozen independent candidates filed initial paperwork by Thursday’s deadline.