The Republican Party of Arkansas elected 21 atlarge delegates Saturday to attend the 2012 Republican National Convention, all but one of whom had been recommended as delegates or alternates by the campaign of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
On the list are the state’s three Republican congressmen - Rick Crawford, Tim Griffin and Steve Womack - plus U.S. Sen. John Boozman, and a mix of grassroots party activists and local elected officials.
All of the delegates chosen Saturday pledged to cast their votes for Romney at the party’s nominatingconvention Aug. 27-30 in Tampa, Fla.
Twenty-one alternates were also selected.
Romney received 68 percent of the vote in Arkansas’ May 22 Republican presidential primary and has amassed enough delegates to win the Republican nomination on the first ballot.
More than 400 people attended the party’s summer state committee meeting at the Wyndham Hotel in North Little Rock.
Sixty people were running for delegate positions, and most of them gave speeches - 30-second-long mini-orations on Romney, Republicanism and the desire to retire President Barack Obama.
The crowded room, the competitive ballots and the partisan battle cries seemed to buoy Doyle Webb, chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas.
“You know, we’re getting so big, you don’t know everybody’s name” anymore, Webb said.
It took 90 minutes tocount the votes, but most of the Republicans stuck around to hear the results.
Former U.S. Rep. Ed Bethune, 76, who represented Little Rock and the state’s 2nd Congressional District from 1979-85, expressed wonder at the turnout.
“Wow. Things have really changed. It’s amazing - just an incredible transformation,” he said. “This is going to be a banner year. This is going to be a breakout year.”
B oozman will be the delegation chairman at the Florida convention.
The party announced that other successful delegate candidates included Rep. Duncan Baird of Lowell; Jack Avery, Fayetteville; Rep. Ann Clemmer, Benton; Skot Covert, Russellville; Robin Lundstrum, Springdale; Jonelle Fulmer, Fort Smith; Julie Harris, Springdale; John Nabholz, Conway; Andrea Lea, Russellville; Rep. John Burris, Harrison; Jim Reavis, Fayetteville; Patricia Nation, Jacksonville; Johnny Rhoda, Clinton; Laurie Rapert, Conway; Tom Lundstrum, Springdale; and Barbara Burrow Deuschle, Hot Springs.
Alex Reed, a spokesman for Secretary of State Mark Martin, was the only delegate elected Saturday without an endorsement from the Romney campaign. He has promised to support Romney’s bid.
Party leaders expressed confidence that Romney will fare well among Arkansans in November.
“It’s not going to be close. I feel really good about the way things look,” said Griffin, the 2nd District congressman and Romney’s state campaign chairman. “The real fun in the state is going to be watching the Legislature.”
Griffin and other Republicans say they’ve got a realistic shot at winning control of the state Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.
Overall, Arkansas will be sending 36 delegates to Tampa, including some who were elected at the district level, plus Webb, Republican National Committeeman Jonathan Barnett and outgoing Republican National Committeeman Reta Hamilton.
“We’re going to have a good time down there,” said Webb, who has attended nine national conventions stretching back to 1972.
Competition for delegate slots is fierce this year because Arkansans “want to be part of history in ending the failed policies and broken promises that President Obama has forced on the American people,” Webb said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 15 on 06/24/2012