Clemmer, Reynolds target Hill with barbs

With the May 20 Republican primary in the 2nd Congressional District less than a month away, Little Rock banker French Hill is drawing sharp criticism from his two rivals - state Rep. Ann Clemmer of Benton and retired U.S. Army Col. Colonel Conrad Reynolds of Conway.

Hill, the chief executive officer and board chairman for Delta Trust & Bank in Little Rock, said he’s the target of his rivals’ barbs because he’s the front-runner in the race and has raised substantially more in campaign contributions than they have.

“I am here trying to talk about specific policies and areas of things I am interested in, and they are talking about innuendo and spin,” he said in an interview last week.

Hill said he wants to work in Congress on prioritizing the federal government’s spending partly by shifting some federal responsibilities back to state and local governments and insisting on more accountability from federal officials.

He said he’ll also try to simplify the federal tax code and repeal Obamacare - the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that President Barack Obama signed into law in 2010.

Clemmer, who is a political science instructor at the University of Little Rock at Little Rock, and Reynolds, who is a security consultant, are criticizing Hill for contributing to Democratic candidates, including former state Treasurer Martha Shoffner of Newport, and helping lead the successful 2011 campaign to persuade Little Rock voters to raise the city’s sales tax by 1 percentage point to 1.5 percent.

The Little Rock sales tax increase was aimed at paying for general city operations, including police officers and firefighters, and capital projects, including street work and a research park. It generates an estimated $45 million per year.

All three candidates have signed a pledge promising to oppose attempts to raise marginal income tax rates, if elected.

As of March 31, Hill reported raising $870,247 in contributions and spending $155,813, while Reynolds reported raising $99,072, including a $65,000 loan from himself, and spending $32,948, according to the Federal Election Commission’s website.

Clemmer reported raising $149,319, including $28,000 from herself, and spending $43,013. She also reported borrowing $20,007 from Arkansas secretary of state spokesman Roland A. “Alex” Reed of Little Rock, who is listed on Federal Election Commission records as her campaign treasurer. On Friday, Clemmer’s campaign announced that it had removed its treasurer from its bank account after discovering “unauthorized disbursements”and said it would file paperwork with the commission naming a new treasurer.

The rules of the state House of Representatives barred Clemmer from raising contributions during the fiscal session, which ran from Feb. 10 to March 19.

Reynolds, who legally changed his first name to “Colonel” earlier this year so that it can appear on the ballot, said the primary’s purpose is to pick the candidate who is most closely aligned with Republican values. Reynolds said he’s not doing his duty if he’s doesn’t tell voters about the differences between the candidates.

“It is not all about money. Maybe in the business world, [Hill] thinks that,” he said.

Clemmer said through a spokesman that Hill’s advisers “have given him the right talking points. Too bad his past actions of leading a tax hike and supporting Democrat campaigns with thousands of dollars in contributions is in direct conflict with his talking points.”

Reynolds, who lost a 2010 bid for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, said he’ll aim in Congress to repeal Obamacare, simplify the federal tax code and balance the federal budget.

Clemmer said she’ll work on repealing Obamacare, cutting federal spending, lowering taxes, balancing the federal budget and protecting people’s gun rights.

If neither Clemmer, Hill nor Reynolds wins a majority of the votes in the primary, the top two voter-getters will advance to the June 10 runoff.

The Republican nominee will take on Democratic candidate Patrick Hays, a former North Little Rock mayor, and Libertarian candidate Debbie Standiford of Little Rock in the Nov. 4 general election.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin of Little Rock, who has held the congressional seat since 2011, is seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.

Hill said he’s the best congressional candidate based on his business experience and stints working in the nation’s capital as a U.S. Senate staff member and the in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. As a banker, Hill says he has “hands-on practical experience to work for better solutions in Congress.” Due to his experience in Washington, Hill says he’ll know “how to advocate for the 2nd District without any on-the-job training.”

Clemmer said she’s the Republicans’ best choice for the congressional seat because she has a proven conservative record in the state House of Representatives on issues that Republicans care about, ranging from her votes for numerous tax-cut measures to carrying a bill through the House to ban most abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy.

Reynolds said he’s the best GOP candidate because he’s a combat veteran with the needed leadership skills and trust of the voters. Washington doesn’t need more politicians like Clemmer or more bankers like Hill, Reynolds said.

Hill said he wants to push for legislation to grant the president line-item veto authority subject to some congressional oversight.

He said he supports a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution and granting the president lineitem veto authority because, “I am not sure that Congress has the will to constrain spending, set priorities and keep us [in] long-term fiscal health.”

Hill said he favors eliminating the U.S. Department of Education because he believes that the vast majority of the department is duplicative and unnecessary, and that parents, school boards, administrators, and state officials should make curricula and other education decisions.

Clemmer and Reynolds said they also support a constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to balance its budget.

Clemmer, Hill and Reynolds each said they support overhauling the Social Security and Medicare programs, but they declined to commit themselves to any particular changes.

In 2013, the Arkansas Legislature enacted legislation creating the “private option” to use federal Medicaid dollars made available under Obamacare to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans. So far, more than 120,000 Arkansans have enrolled in the program.

Hill said in a written statement in January that he opposes “any implementation of Obamacare in Arkansas, including the so-called ‘private option.’” He declined further comment on the private option last week.

Reynolds declined to take a position on the private option, saying “it’s a state issue. It’s not a federal issue.”

Clemmer said she voted last year for a bill to fund the state Department of Human Services - including the Medicaid expansion. The bill included funding for elderly people in nursing homes and the private option “was but a small part” of the bill, she added. The department budgeted $540 million to cover the private option’s costs starting Jan. 1 in the current fiscal year, according to a department spokesman.

She said she voted against funding the private option this year, after the Obama administration changed numerous features of Obamacare, including the employer mandate.

Clemmer said she’ll work on requiring recipients of unemployment benefits and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to be drug-tested because, “we have to change the conversation and the conversation can’t be for more cellphones and more benefits for people.”

Reynolds said he has a 4-year-old son with autism, and he would push to increase funding for federal research on the disorder.

Clemmer said she opposes abortion except to save the life of the mother, while Hill and Reynolds said they oppose abortion except to save the life of the mother and in cases of rape and incest.

Nearly a year ago, Griffin and local officials agreed to urge Exxon Mobil to move forward on relocating about 13.5 miles of the Pegasus crude oil pipeline that lies in the Lake Maumelle watershed, after a 22-foot rupture in the 850-mile pipeline spilled 210,00 gallons of oil into a Mayflower subdivision and into a cove of Lake Conway.

“Everybody wants cheap energy and nobody wants it in their backyard,” Clemmer said when asked if she’ll push Exxon Mobil to relocate the pipeline if she’s elected. “We need to take every step we can to make our pipelines secure. … Exxon just needs to make the best choices for the people living in the area.”

Hill said he’ll be “an advocate to make sure that the pipeline passes through our watershed in a safe manner and, if it can’t pass through our watershed in a safe manner, maybe they ought to reconsider what their options are.”

Reynolds said it would be “nice” to reroute the pipeline away from the Lake Maumelle watershed, but “I am not going to come to a position on it until I do a little more studying on it.”

Clemmer has criticized Hill for voting for Democratic candidates and donating to Democratic candidates, including collectively contributing $2,250 through his business and himself to Shoffner in 2009 before the state invested $23 million through Delta Trust & Bank.

Hill said he’s has raised a lot of money for Republican candidates over the years. As for Shoffner, he said he’s “disgusted by her performance and her abuse of trust of the Arkansas people.”

Reynolds, during the past two months, has also has criticized Hill’s contributions to Shoffner.

Bankers have been a major source of campaign contributions for whoever the state treasurer has been for years. The office now invests in certificates of deposit and has bank accounts through about 40 banks, according to the office.

Shoffner, who was caught on camera accepting bribes from a bond broker, was convicted last month of 14 extortion and bribery charges.

Hill said he gave a $250 personal contribution to Shoffner at a banker fundraiser in 2009. The other $2,000 contributed to Shoffner in 2009 came through Delta Trust & Bank.

“That is just not a story,” he said last week. “I gave $250 and [Clemmer] also implied that I voted for Democrats and I never voted in a Democratic primary.”

Clemmer said Hill voted in the 2004 Democratic primary.

Hill voted in the May 18, 2004, Democratic primary, according to records in the secretary of state’s office.

Hill disputed that in a written statement, saying, “In 2004, I served as Co-Chairman of President Bush’s reelection campaign in Arkansas, and I voted in the Republican primary election.”

Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/27/2014

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