More Democrats enter House races in 1st, 4th districts

— New entrants created contested Democratic primaries Tuesday in the 1st and 4th congressional districts, and a representative of President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign filed papers for him to be on the ballot in Arkansas.

Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas became the fourth GOP presidential candidate to file to run in Arkansas’ May 22 primary as the GOP continued to lead the Democrats in filings for state House seats and narrowly trailed the Democrats in filings for state Senate races.

The filing period runs through Thursday at noon at the state Capitol in Little Rock. It started last Thursday.

This year’s elections come on the heels of efforts by Republicans to link Democratic candidates to Obama in the 2010 elections and the GOP’s wins in lieutenant governor, secretary of state and land commissioner races. They also follow GOP gains from eight to 15 seats in the 35-seat state Senate and from 28 to 44 in the 100-seat House, as well, increasing from one to four the number of the state’s six congressional seats the party holds.

Thus far, 29 Democrats and 27 Republicans have filed for state Senate seats, and 77 Republicans and 75 Democrats have filed for state House seats.

In advance of this year’s elections, Arkansas Democrats have been outlining what they describe as their record of balancing the state budget, improving education, cutting taxes and creating jobs in Arkansas. They say they believe the anti-Obama tsunami has peaked.

On Tuesday, Gary Latanich, an economics professor at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, became the second Democrat to file for eastern Arkansas’ 1st District seat held by Republican Rep. Rick Crawford of Jonesboro. State Rep. Clark Hall, a Democrat from Marvell, was the first.

Latanich said he’s seeking the seat because the policies of Congress are awful and “they are either going to ruin us, turn us [into] Greece or just stagnate the economy.”

He said he wants to improve education and the economy and make government effective.

Latanich said he’s a better candidate than Hall because “the problems are all economic and I am a Ph.D. economist,” and he has worked for, among others, Gov. Bill Clinton on his Council of Economic Advisers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Hall, a retired farmer, replied, “My theory is that when I started farming, I would be sure I had a game plan and it all would look like it is perfect, and when you get out there on the field ... you better be able to adapt.”

As far as Obama’s policies, Latanich said, “What policies have the government worked on that have been effective and to what extent have Republicans demonized policies that really are very good and they’ve just convinced the public they are not good?”

He said he supports “any policy that increases demand and basically increases the public welfare, anything that gives us access to a doctor, increases the demand for products to give us jobs, anything that improves our environment, or helps education.”

Q. Byrum Hurst, an attorney in Hot Springs, said he is running for the Democratic nomination in the 4th District congressional seat because he’s wanted to serve the public in the past few years and his abilities lie in legislative work. Hurst filed for the post Tuesday. The seat is currently held by retiring Democratic Rep. Mike Ross.

He said he initially considered running for the state Senate District 13 seat, but he “didn’t feel the right candidates that could adequately represent the 4th District were running.”

Hurst, who lost a state Senate race in 2010, said he considers himself to be uniquely qualified for the congressional seat because of his legal knowledge as a lawyer and his experience representing clients.

State Sen. Gene Jeffress, a retired teacher from Louann, who also has filed to run for the 4th District Democratic nomination, has described Hurst as “a good trial lawyer.”

Hurst said, “I hope I am a good lawyer. I think it was kind of a backhanded compliment.”

Hurst said his No. 1 priority would be “jobs and the economy.”

President Obama “has certainly made some mistakes and also done some very good things,” Hurst said. He said Obama doesn’t get the credit that he deserves for saving the auto industry and ordering the capture of Osama bin Laden.

As far as the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, he said, “I think [Obama] is wrong about that. I think we ought to embrace that, particularly in Arkansas.”

Obama and congressional Republicans have feuded for months over whether to grant a federal permit for the pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast. Obama rejected the permit last month when faced with a congressionally mandated deadline of Feb. 21, though he said at the time that he supported the idea of expanding shipping capacity between Cushing, Okla., and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Canadian firm hoping to build the pipeline said Monday that it would push ahead with plans to build a $2.3 billion segment of the pipeline from Cushing, Okla., to Port Arthur, Texas. A White House spokesman said a new application for the crossborder segment of the pipeline would receive a thorough assessment.

Republicans John Cowart of Texarkana, Tom Cotton of Dardanelle and Beth Anne Rankin of Magnolia have filed to run for the GOP nomination in Arkansas’ 4th District.

On Tuesday, Arkansas’ campaign director for Obama’s reelection campaign, Gary Moody of Sherwood, filed papers for Obama to run in the May 22 primary.

“We are going to run a traditional grass-roots campaign,” Moody said, and the campaign has opened an office in North Little Rock at 201 West Broadway Ave., Suite G.

Moody said Obama has a shot at winning Arkansas in this year’s election because “it’s a completely different race than it was in 2008.

“The president has a good record to run on,” ranging from the federal health-care law enacted in 2010 to expansion of federal student aid to 22 consecutive months of private-sector job growth.

Monica Serrano of Maumelle, state director for Paul’s presidential campaign in Arkansas, filed paperwork for Paul to run in Arkansas’ May 22 primary.

Representatives for GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum also have filed papers to be on the ballot in Arkansas. Gingrich is a former U.S. House speaker from Georgia, Romney is a former Massachusetts governor and Santorum is a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania.

Serrano said she expects the GOP presidential nomination will still be up for grabs on May 22.

“I think we are going to have a brokered convention,” Serrano said. “I think Arkansas will actually have a say.”

Serrano said she believes Paul could win the Arkansas’ primary.

“People are tired of the status quo. They are tired of people making promises and not following through and Ron Paul, if anything, he is consistent,” he said. “Especially in the South, people appreciate people of their word.”

Arkansas, Pages 7 on 02/29/2012

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