LITTLE ROCK — A former GOP official in Arkansas who belongs to a group that bills itself as "pro-white" has been elected to another position in the Republican party.
A committee in the First Congressional District elected John Casteel to office over the weekend. That comes after Casteel resigned as GOP chairman in Jackson County earlier this month over ties to the Council of Conservative Citizens, which grew out of organizations that battled school integration in the 1950s and 1960s.
Casteel says in his new post, he would recommend candidates for state offices should a Republican take control of the governor's office. That position doesn't do anything now, with Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe at the helm.
Casteel says he's not a racist or white supremacist. The GOP declined to comment early Monday.