Revelation that Dustin McDaniel, the Arkansas attorney general, had some sort of an extramarital fling with another attorney has changed the political conversation in the state.
The talk is further complicated by the fact that the woman, or her fi rm, has been opposing counsel on a number of cases involving McDaniel’s off ce, including a high-profile lawsuit over the Arkansas School Choice Act.
It may be Christmastime, when most people’s minds are on other matters; but the political world is abuzz with questions about McDaniel’s future.
Until this recent news, he was the undisputed frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2014, if not for election as governor. Mostly, that’s because he has been the only announced candidate.
But he has used his time as attorney general to make the connections necessary to a successful campaign and he certainly has been successful to date in raising money for the race. What happens on the fundraising front will likely be the realsignal as to how much McDaniel’s fling has hurt his chances.
He is not the only Democrat pondering the 2014 race and there will most certainly be a Republican field as well.
Any governor wannabe has to have seen an opening in this recent development, even if McDaniel says it makes no dift erence to his campaign plans.
Last week, McDaniel admitted to an “inappropriate” relationship with Andrea Davis, a Hot Springs lawyer.
He had a “limited interaction” with her in 2011, according to a statement released on his behalf. But, he says he and his wife since 2009, Bobbi McDaniel, “have moved on with our life together.” The marriage is McDaniel’s second. His first ended indivorce in 2008.
News of this recent dalliance surfaced in court filings in a custody case between Davis and her ex-husband. The story was bound to break sooner or later and McDaniel correctly admitted this “interaction,” as he called it.
There will be more questions as details develop and more people become aware of the story, which will quite frankly matter to some voters and not to others.
A political strategist for McDaniel has said McDaniel can still be elected governor and maybe he can. Just remember, the strategist’s job is to get McDaniel elected and to do anything possible to push a story like this one out of the headlines or at least soften the blow.
The true impact on McDaniel’s political future isn’t so clear and won’t be until some greater detail is known about how, if at all, the personal relationship between lawyers aft ected the cases their off ces handled. Their clients could have an interest in that information. AndMcDaniel’s ultimate clients are the citizens of Arkansas, some of whom will also decide who the next governor will be.
That’s why all those other prospective candidates, known and unknown, are most interested in the fallout. McDaniel may have been weakened enough that someone else could more easily challenge his bid for governor.
The 2014 gubernatorial race has some greater signifi cance because it comes when the state Legislature, albeit closely divided, is under Republican control. The Republicans would like to have control of the chief executive off ce, too; and Democrats want desperately to hold onto it. Both parties should be looking to fi eld their most electable nominees.
Although no one but McDaniel has actually announced, there are others seriously considering the race. And, now, there could be more.
BRENDA BLAGG IS A FREELANCE COLUMNIST AND LONGTIME JOURNALIST IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
Opinion, Pages 5 on 12/26/2012