LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Republicans Tuesday yanked control of the state Senate from Democrats for the first time in 138 years. But it was unclear early Wednesday whether the GOP would assume control of the Arkansas House of Representatives.
The Republicans increased their number of seats in the state Senate from 15 to at least 19 as of 12:30 a.m. The Democrats, who have had 20 seats for the past two years, had at least 13 seats. The results of three races could not be determined.
The results of 12 House races could not be determined early today. Unofficial results showed Democrats won 42 races, Republicans won 45 races and the Green Party won one seat.
“Some of these races are still too close to call ... and we’re still waiting for returns to come in on some of these races,” Democratic Party of Arkansas spokesman Candace Martin said.
Referring to the president, state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb of Benton said the results are “an indication that Arkansans are opposed to the liberal policies of Barack Obama” and ready for a viable two-party system.
He said Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe needs to work with the Republicans in the Legislature and compromise with them.
“But he’s an astute politician, and his heart is in the right place to move Arkansas forward, and he’ll find that they [do] too,” said Webb, a former state senator.
Democrats have controlled the state House and Senate since Reconstruction.
Senate Democratic leader Robert Thompson of Paragould said the combination of a brutal economic environment and groups spending millions of dollars assailing Democratic candidates proved to be “a toxic combination” in Tuesday’s election.
He survived a challenge from Corning Republican Blake Johnson in what was described as a difficult political environment for Democrats and his estimate that groups spent more than $200,000 in their bid to oust him.
State Rep. Barry Hyde, DNorth Little Rock, wasn’t ready to concede defeat on Tuesday night to state Rep. Jane English, R-North Little Rock, in Senate District 34 but blamed several mailers from the conservative groups Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Tax Reform in the past week for him trailing.
English said both she and Hyde were targeted by mailers from various groups. “There was an assumption that only Democrats could win in this area,” and more independents and Republicans turned out to vote, she said.
With GOP Lt. Gov. Mark Darr predicting his party would win 22 seats in the 35-member Senate and 61 seats in the 100-member House, a few hundred Republicans rallied at the Embassy Suites hotel in west Little Rock for what their party called their “Countdown To Victory” as the polls closed.
Across town in Little Rock, a crowd of about 100 at the Democratic Party watch event at Cotham’s in the City near the state Capitol was largely focused on the presidential race, with organizers flipping occasionally from MSNBC to local news.
Cotham’s is a popular lunch spot for legislators, lobbyists and state employees, with walls covered in signs for old campaigns such as Jimmie Lou Fisher’s for governor and Vic Snyder’s for state Senate. But many big names in the Democratic Party weren't present on Tuesday night.
State Rep. Fred Love, DLittle Rock, was one of a few candidates on hand. Love did not have an opponent and said early in the night he was not concerned about Democrats’ chances of retaining a majority in both chambers. Love said legislative candidates were right to tie themselves with Gov. Mike Beebe and the desire to continue his policies.
The House is currently made up of 53 Democrats and 46 Republicans.
There were 48 House districts where a Republican faced a Democrat, and six races where a Libertarian, Independent or Green Party candidate challenged a Democrat or Republican.
On Tuesday a Pulaski County circuit judge ruled that votes cast for former Rep. Hudson Hallum, D-Marion, would not be counted. Earlier this year Hallum pleaded guilty to felony voter fraud charges. Green Party candidate Fred Smith of Crawfordsville is the only other candidate on the ballot.
The House had 45 uncontested races, with 24 Democrats and 21 Republicans essentially assured a seat.
There were 16 Senate races where Democrats and Republicans competed, and two seats where the Democratic incumbent had a Libertarian challenger.
In the Senate 17 candidates had no opponent — seven Democrats and 10 Republicans.
In their bid to win control of both legislative chambers for the first time in 138 years, Republicans linked their Democrat counterparts to Obama and his policies, particularly his health-care law, for the second consecutive election.
Four candidates, who had previously run for elective office as Democrats, decided to run for the Legislature as Republicans, saying they’re conservatives and the Democratic Party has become too liberal. They are Rep. Linda Collins-Smith of Pocahontas in Senate District 19, Ken Bragg of Sheridan in House District 15, Ronald Cavenaugh of Walnut Ridge in House District 60 and Dwight Hoyle of Clarksville in District 69.
In 2010, Arkansas Republicans linked Democrats to Obama and won the offices of lieutenant governor, secretary of state and land commissioner, 15 positions in the Senate and 44 in the House and increased their number of the state’s U.S. House seats from one to three.
This year, Democrats tied themselves to Beebe, a generally popular governor who is term-limited and isn’t on the ballot this year, and his education, tax-cut, and job-creation policies in particular.
Many Democrats said they favored further cutting the state’s sales tax on groceries and a federally financed and Beebe-backed expansion of the Medicaid program by about 250,000 people.
But many Republicans said they want to consider overhauling the state’s income-tax structure and either opposed or were reluctant to embrace the proposed Medicaid expansion authorized by Obama’s federal health-care law.
Legislative approval of the proposed Medicaid expansion would require a three-fourths vote of the House (75 votes) and Senate (27 votes) for an appropriation bill for it.
In advance of the election, Beebe shied away from predicting which party would win control of the Legislature, saying it would be close to 50/50 and lawmakers would have to work together, particularly on issues requiring a three-fourths vote for approval, including most appropriation bills.
Republicans were aided by conservative nonprofit groups, including Americans for Prosperity’s Arkansas chapter backed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition of Georgia and the 60 Plus Association of Washington, D.C., with mailings and radio and television ads assailing Democratic candidates.
Democrats, including Beebe, disputed the accuracy of some of the conservative groups’ information. Similarly, Republican legislative candidates complained about fliers and radio ads from the nonprofit Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee of Washington, D.C.
About a month ago, some of the state Republican Party’s elected officials and party leaders, including Chairman Webb, distanced themselves from remarks by three House GOP candidates, calling some of the remarks racially inflammatory, extreme, offensive and not the party’s views. All three candidates lost their races Tuesday night.
Rep. Loy Mauch of Bismarck lost to David Kizzia of Malvern, Rep. Jon Hubbard of Jonesboro lost to Harold Copenhaver of Jonesboro and former lawmaker Charles Fuqua of Batesville, lost to state Rep. James McLean, D-Batesville.
With 21 of 21 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
David Kizzia . . . . . . . . . . 5,547 Loy Mauch . . . . . . . . . . . .4,580
With all 25 precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
McLean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,871 Fuqua. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,992
McLean said voters “unequivocally rejected” Fuqua’s philosophy, which was outlined in a book he published that said parents should be able to kill disobedient children and all Muslims should be expelled from the United States.
“This was a hard race, it was tough all the way but Independence County just rejected this radical and extreme brand of politics that doesn’t represent our values,” McLean said.
With all six precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
Copenhaver . . . . . . . . . . . 5,669 Hubbard . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5,020
Martin said it wasn't just news reports about the writings that influenced the races.
“Many of these races, we always knew there was a possibility of things being close. In particularly the case of Copenhaver and McLean, their record and their agenda of what they want to accomplish is ultimately what won those elections,” she said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 11/07/2012