LITTLE ROCK — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Dustin McDaniel admitted Tuesday to an inappropriate relationship with a Hot Springs lawyer.

McDaniel still intends to run for office in 2014, his campaign spokesman Tricia Wallace said.

McDaniel said in a statement released by his Washington media consulting firm, that he met Andrea Davis during the 2010 campaign.

“I had limited interaction with her in 2011, some of which I regret to say was inappropriate,” he is quoted as saying.

McDaniel states that he and his wife, Bobbi McDaniel, “have moved on with our life together.”

McDaniel and Bobbi McDaniel married in 2009. McDaniel’s first marriage ended in divorce in 2008.

On Tuesday, he asked Arkansans to accept his apology. The statement included no other details of the relationship, and Wallace would say no more.

Davis did not return phone messages left at her office or on her cell phone. The person who answered her office phone said Davis was in court.

Since 2009, Davis has represented a group of parents in a federal lawsuit against the state over Arkansas’ School Choice Act. Under a provision of the law, the group’s children, all white, were not allowed to transfer to schools in a district with a higher percentage of white students.

The attorney general’s office represented the state Department of Education in the case at the time the “inappropriate” interaction occurred. Assistant Attorney General Scott Richardson is the office’s lead attorney on the case.

Attorney general’s office spokesman Aaron Sadler noted the case began before the relationship did.

“Our legal strategy has been consistent since that time, which the pleadings in this case clearly demonstrate,” Sadler said.

The Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct has punished lawyers in the past for not disclosing to their clients their personal relationships with opposing counsel.

News of the relationship first came from an Oct. 31 circuit court filing stemming from a 2009 Garland County Circuit Court divorce case between Davis and Frederick N. Day III.

Day asked Davis to admit to several sexual relationships while the two were married, including one with McDaniel in 2011 or 2012.

The circuit court denied a motion filed days later to seal the case.

In a Dec. 3 response, Davis objected to Day’s questions, calling the information irrelevant to the custody dispute and said the question had been “asked solely to harass and annoy.” On Dec. 12, the court said there was no reason for Davis to address the questions.

Democrats hope for a strong candidate to hold the governor’s office in 2014 after the past two elections gave Republicans control of all four U.S. House seats, both state legislative chambers and three of seven constitutional offices.

McDaniel has raised more than $1 million since he announced in June that he plans to run for governor.

He has been attorney general since 2007. A former Jonesboro policeman, McDaniel was in the state House of Representatives from 2005-2007 before moving to Little Rock.

Potential rivals for the Democratic primary include Highway Commissioner John Burkhalter of Little Rock and former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter of North Little Rock. Neither has announced any intention to run.

Halter spokesman Bud Jackson said Halter is on vacation with his wife and daughters. Burkhalter said McDaniel’s statement has no bearing on whether Halter chooses to run.

Campaigning has begun. At the Democratic State Committee Meeting in North Little Rock Dec. 8, party members wore McDaniel for Governor buttons and referred to him at the next governor of the state.

Democratic Party of Arkansas spokesman Candace Martin called the matter private.

“We respect Dustin and Bobbi’s privacy. We appreciate the work that Dustin McDaniel does as attorney general for the people of our great state,” she said.

Potential Republican candidates include former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson of Rogers; former U.S. Senate candidate Curtis Coleman of Little Rock; state Sen. Johnny Key of Mountain Home; and Lt. Gov. Mark Darr of Springdale.

Hutchinson would not say whether McDaniel’s statement affects his decision on running.

Coleman said Tuesday’s announcement doesn’t affect his decision. Key and Darr declined to comment.

“This is just another factor the voters of Arkansas will have to consider as they look to choose their next governor,” Republican Party of Arkansas spokesman Katherine Vasilos said.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/19/2012