Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has hurt his 2014 bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination by his admission that he has had an inappropriate relationship with a Hot Springs lawyer, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe said Tuesday.
“Quantifying how much, I wouldn’t have any idea,” Beebe during an interview broadcast on the Talk Politics website.
“The question is, how does he handle it? How much will this continue in terms of publicity and how will people react to it in the campaign?”
Since Hot Springs lawyer Andrea Davis and McDaniel met in 2010, Davis has represented clients in five cases when the attorney general’s office represented the state, according to McDaniel’s office.
Asked whether Beebe is worried as the titular head of the state Democratic Party that this type of candidate with this type of problem could hurt the party’s ticket in other ways, Beebe said he “is not going even by my inference [to] get in the middle of taking sides on who should or should not be the Democratic nominee. I stay out of the primaries.”
Asked to whether he’ll actively campaign for whoever isthe Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Beebe said, “We’ll see. Probably.”
Beebe’s comments came less than an hour before Mc-Daniel held a news conference at which he apologized to Arkansas for making “a personal mistake.
“There is no other shoe to drop. There are no other women. No litigation was ever comprised. No rules of professional conduct were violated. No state resources, dollars or personnel were used for personal purposes,” McDaniel said in a prepared statement.
McDaniel has reported raising more than $1 million since he announced in June that he plans to run for governor.
After McDaniel’s news conference, Beebe declined to comment further through Beebe spokesman Matt De-Cample.
A spokesman for former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter of North Little Rock said, “Bill Halter’s decision about a gubernatorial campaign has nothing to do with the past, present or future problems of another candidate.
“Those are for Arkansans to judge. The voters’ decision should be based on who has the ideas, experience, values and character to lead the state,” said Halter spokesmanBud Jackson.
Jackson said Halter has no timetable for deciding whether he’ll run for governor in 2014.
Halter briefly challenged Beebe for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2006 before deciding to run for lieutenant governor instead.
Businessman and state Highway Commissioner John Burkhalter of Little Rock, who has said he’s considering running for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2014, could not be reached for comment by telephone on Tuesday.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson of Rogers, who last week said he “fully intends” to run for governor in 2014, said McDaniel’s admission of an inappropriate relationship “will be no issue in the campaign” and that Hutchinson would instruct his campaign staff not to raise the issue.
“We are talking about jobs, education and economic development,” said Hutchinson, a former U.S. representative who lost a bid for governor to Beebe in 2006.
“Susan and I wish Dustin and Bobbi the very best in their marriage and best wishes,” Hutchinson said. Susan is Hutchinson’s wife. Bobbi is McDaniel’s wife.
Curtis Coleman of Little Rock, who last week formed a committee to explore the possibility of running for governor in 2014, said he hopes that McDaniel’s remarks on Tuesday regarding his inappropriate relationship are “true and accurate.
“I don’t plan to make it an issue in the campaign,” said Coleman, a former U.S. Senate candidate and businessman.
“I think there are plenty of issues - political and policy - that I frankly think make the attorney general a bad choice for Arkansans,” the Republican said, and he plans to focus on these issues.
Republicans Lt. Gov. Mark Darr of Springdale and state Sen. Johnny Key of Mountain Home also have said they are considering running for governor in 2014. Both declined to comment.
Meanwhile, one of McDaniel’s Democratic allies says she’s ready to move on.
State Sen. Joyce Elliott of Little Rock said she still supports McDaniel’s bid for governor.
“I am like anybody else. What happened is disappointing,” she said, adding that he “did what he needed to do” by answering questions head-on Tuesday.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 01/09/2013