Darr: No longer in race for Congress

Step comes after ethics complaints

Lt. Gov. Mark Darr said Thursday that he’s abandoning his bid for the Republican nomination in the 4th Congressional District.
Lt. Gov. Mark Darr said Thursday that he’s abandoning his bid for the Republican nomination in the 4th Congressional District.

Lt. Gov. Mark Darr said Thursday that he’s abandoning his bid for the Republican nomination in the 4th Congressional District - more than a week after liberal blogger and lawyer Matt Campbell questioned several thousand dollars in expenses reported on Darr’s campaign-finance reports.

Darr, a Republican from Springdale, announced earlier this month that he would move from the 3rd Congressional District to the 4th and run for Congress.

But Darr’s past spending quickly became an issue, sparking the filing of complaints with the Arkansas Ethics Commission.

On Thursday, Darr shut down his campaign, saying the decision had been made “after careful thought and deliberation.”

“I feel that my priority needs to be focused on my family and sometimes trying to achieve titles gets in the way of that,” he said in a written statement.

“I look forward to serving out my current term as Lt. Governor and helping my friends get elected or re-elected should they desire my assistance.”

As to whether he intends to seek another office next year, Darr replied in another written statement, “As of right now I am going to enjoy time with my family, help my true friends and worry about that later.”

Darr was at the state Capitol on Thursday but told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he wouldn’t be granting interviews to discuss his withdrawal.

Darr’s former campaign spokesman, Chase Dugger, said he resigned Tuesday after carefully reviewing the candidate’s past spending.

Attorney Paul Dumas of Morrilton, a former chairman of the Arkansas Ethics Commission, said Thursday that he’s representing Darr on ethics complaints after Darr, who is a friend, called him and asked for his representation. He said he hasn’t reviewed Darr’s campaign records yet.

Darr last Friday filed a complaint against himself with the Ethics Commission. At the time Dugger said the expenses should have been classified as going toward “debt relief” rather than campaign or fundraising efforts.

Darr reported at the end of 2010 that his campaign still owed him $115,766 from loans he made to his campaign - money that Arkansas law allows him to recoup. On his latest campaign report, Darr said that he is still owed $18,494 by his campaign.

Campbell also filed a complaint last Friday against Darr, saying some of Darr’s expenses “have no ties to debt reduction whatsoever.”

Darr reported paying $1,500 to the University of Arkansas for a fundraiser in September 2011. But UA records show that money went to four tickets for Razorback football games. Dugger said last week that the spending on the football tickets was “debt relief - not a campaign expenditure.”

Darr’s reported expenses including $127.37 for food at BJG Golden Palace in Bejing in October 2011; $144.96 at Belk in Rogers for unspecified supplies in November 2011; $172 at Dillard’s for unspecified supplies in December 2011; $155.31 for food at Vince Young Steakhouse in Austin, Texas, in July 2011; and $100.98 for unspecified supplies in July 2011 at Prime Mart, a gas station and convenience store in Austin.

Dugger, a senior account representative for the Impact Management Group lobbying and political consulting firm, said Thursday in a written statement that “we notified [Darr] two days ago we were leaving the campaign.”

“We were not involved in his 2010 campaign, but had spent the past week going through the debt retirement reports and had concluded there was no way for us to help the current campaign moving forward,” Dugger said. “We still consider Darr a friend and hope the best for him.”

On the basis of timing alone, Campbell said, he has “to assume that [Darr] left the race because of the issues that I raised.

“I know his statement focused on his family, but that’s pretty much a boilerplate excuse when someone has to get out of a race and doesn’t want to admit actual wrongdoing,” Campbell said.

Darr’s departure from the congressional race leaves state House Republican leader Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs, businessman and Republican Tommy Moll of Hot Springs, and teacher and Democrat Janis Percefull of Hot Springs vying for the seat.

Dardanelle Republican Tom Cotton holds the seat, but he’s seeking to oust Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor of Little Rock.

Darr’s exit from the 4th District race comes nine days after Sen. Paul Bookout, D-Jonesboro, tendered his resignation from office without giving a reason.

Bookout resigned four days after the Ethics Commission fined him $8,000 and issued him a public letter of reprimand.

According to the commission, Bookout violated state law by making personal use of $53,305.07 of his campaign funds, including transferring more than $18,000 into his own bank account, withdrawing $6,760 in cash from his campaign account, using more than $5,000 in campaign donations to buy women’s clothing and accessories, and $1,306 to purchase gear at the Ridge Pointe Country Club pro shop.

Bookout resigned on the same day that a circuit judge appointed Jack McQuary of the state prosecutor coordinator’s office as special prosecutor and a day after Bookout resigned from his job for St. Bernard Health Care in Jonesboro. He has said he plans to pay back about $49,000 to his campaign contributors.

A spokesman for the state Democratic Party said it’s appropriate for Darr to withdraw from the congressional race “considering the ethics investigation into his spending habits.”

“It’s clear that the glass house from which Republicans have been standing in when it comes to ethics and the law is quickly coming down on them,” said the spokesman, Candace Martin.

In May, state Treasurer Martha Shoffner, a Newport Democrat, resigned after being accused of accepting a $6,000 bribe which had been hidden in a pie box. A federal grand jury handed up an indictment in June charging her with extortion and bribery.

In June, former Rep. Hudson Hallum, D-Marion, and his father were sentenced to serve three years’ probation with nine months of home detention for taking part in a 2011 scheme to buy votes with cheap alcohol, chicken dinners and cash. Hallum resigned from his District 54 House seat after pleading guilty Sept. 5 to election-fraud charges.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 08/30/2013

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