With less than a month before the May Republican primary, two rivals in Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District, both conservatives, are focusing their campaigns on what sets them apart.
The two candidates - state Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, and Tommy Moll, a Hot Springs energy investor - have been duking it out during campaign events and interviews across the 33-county district over the state’s private-option Medicaid expansion and residency issues.
The Republican winner will take on Democrat James Lee Witt, former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Bill Clinton, and Libertarian candidate Ken Hamilton to fill the open seat. Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, who now holds the seat, is running for the U.S. Senate against two-term Sen. Mark Pryor, a Democrat.
Moll and Westerman share similar beliefs on several key issues. Both are against abortion rights. Moll says he supports bills passed in the Legislature in 2013 to ban most abortions after the 12th and 20th weeks of pregnancy. Westerman co-sponsored both bills.
Both candidates received high marks from the National Rifle Association, which ended up endorsing Westerman based on his voting record. The two also advocate for less government regulation, reduced spending and balanced budgets.
Their views overlapped so much at a debate held earlier this month by the Arkansas Federation of Young Republicans that a moderator stepped in to ask the candidates what they disagreed on and what distinguished them from each other.
For Moll, the answer is simple. He spoke slowly, choosing his words a handful at a time during an interview last week.
“Repealing Obamacare is the most important issue in this campaign. The biggest difference between the candidates, on that issue, is that I have always been opposed to it,” he said.
Moll and his campaign have been taking issue with the timeline of events that led to the adoption of the state’s private-option plan, which allows the use of federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans. The money was mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as Obamacare.
“My opponent was an initial co-sponsor of the law to implement Obamacare [in Arkansas],” Moll said. “It wasn’t until April [2013] that he added his name to the bill. This version he added his name to did implement Obamacare, first by taking federal taxpayer money authorized by Obamacare. And second, using that money to subsidize health insurance for a group of people specifically defined by Obamacare.”
Westerman disagreed with that version of events.
He said he was part of a working group in 2013 that was looking at ways to overhaul the Medicaid system, including the mandates to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Several legislators came up with the idea of asking for a federal waiver to create what is now called the private option during those sessions, he said.
In March 2013, the federal government sent what’s been called the Good Friday memorandum, which defined who must be covered and with what services for the private option to receive a federal waiver. The group also was presented with an actuarial study of the program that estimated it could eventually cost the state $2 billion over the next decade, Westerman said.
“That’s when I decided the program wasn’t a good idea,” he said. “My name was on the original bill in April, but I took time and analyzed the numbers and the other information. And I removed my name as a co-sponsor before the bill ever went through committee.”
Westerman said he voted against both the creation and funding of the private-option plan anytime a vote came before the House.
“I’ve voted against Obamacare whether it’s a [health-care] exchange, Medicaid expansion, the private option - whatever you want to call it,” he said. “I’ve voted against it every time I’ve had the opportunity to vote against it. And I’ve worked against it every time I’ve had an opportunity to work against it. That even goes back to the 2011 session.
“I think that in itself shows that there is a difference between my opponent and I. I have experience and maturity, and I know how to work together with people,” Westerman added.
Westerman elaborated in an interview Thursday. He was wearing a suit and tie, preparing for an awards ceremony for his oldest son, who will head to Westerman’s alma mater, Yale University, in the fall.
During the campaign, Westerman and his staff have noted that Moll didn’t move to Hot Springs until last year. He’s also pointed to Moll’s voting record, which includes at least one ballot cast in a Democratic primary.
“I think he was living in Greenwich Village when that [2013] debate was going on over the private option,” Westerman said.
Moll said earlier this month that he moved back to Arkansas about a year ago, and that his family has lived in the state for six generations. Moll’s great-grandfather, Harvey Crowley Couch, started the utility company that eventually became Entergy Arkansas.
“I think he should be proud of the educational opportunities he’s had. I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t be,” Westerman added. “But I have a history of service in this district. I think that’s what voters are looking for.”
According to Moll’s voting record, he cast an absentee ballot in a Democratic primary runoff in 2006. He did not cast a ballot in the 2006 general election, where Westerman points out Republicans were running for governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer and attorney general.
Westerman said he had also voted in a Democratic primary runoff in 1998, when there was no Republican running for a circuit court position.
“That’s the difference between those votes,” he said. “If I had the opportunity to vote for a Republican in that race, I would have. Mr. Moll had that opportunity and didn’t.”
Moll said in an emailed response that he voted in the 2006 Democratic primary because it was his best option to have a voice in the election, but he did not address why he hadn’t voted in the general election.
“For most of my lifetime, if you wanted to have a say in Arkansas politics at the primary stage, you sometimes had to vote on the Democrat side, as Bruce Westerman knows because he voted in the 1998Democrat primary runoff election,” Moll wrote. “Fortunately, Republicans now have the opportunity to vote in Republican primaries for strong conservative leaders who will focus on the future of our state and country by fighting to repeal Obamacare and advocate for limited government.”
In addition to those differences, the two candidates disagreed slightly on how they would have handled a vote on the federal farm bill.
Cotton, the current 4th District representative, was the only member of the delegation to vote against the final version of the farm bill earlier this year. Cotton voted for a version that would have separated the foodstamp program into a different bill, but that legislation failed.
Westerman said he was glad Cotton had pointed out that almost 80 percent of the farm bill is funds for the food-stamp program and had tried to separate that from the agricultural policies.
“I think that’s a conversation that needs to be had, and I was glad he raised those points,” Westerman said.
Moll said he agreed with Cotton’s contention about the food-stamp program, but said he still couldn’t have voted for the version of the bill supported by Cotton.
“I agree with Rep. Cotton on a lot of issues, but that is one where we would have disagreed,” Moll said. “Looking at the 20 percent of the bill dedicated to agriculture, less than 1 percent was dedicated to Arkansas. And in reality the bill did more to harm than help the major agricultural interests in the 4th District because of the ethanol requirements.”
Moll said after the redistricting of the congressional districts for the 2012 election, poultry is now the major agricultural business in the 4th District. He said because ethanol is made from corn, taking corn out of the livestock feed supply raised the price of the remaining feed corn, making it hard for those farmers to make ends meet.
“We’ve been hearing that a lot during our campaigning,” Moll said.
Moll is ahead on fundraising, according to campaign-finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
As of March 31, Moll had received $539,374 in contributions during his entire campaign and had $392,599 cash on hand. Westerman, who was barred by state law from fundraising during the fiscal session in February and part of March, had raised $282,666 and had $136,207 cash on hand as of March 31, according to his report.
Bruce Westerman
Age: 46.
Birthplace: Hot Springs.
Residence: Hot Springs.
Education: B.S., University of Arkansas;
M.A., Yale University.
Occupation: Engineer and forester.
Business experience: Plant engineer, Riceland Foods, Stuttgart; engineer and forester, Mid-South Engineering, Hot Springs.
Political experience: Fountain Lake School Board 2006-10, president from 2009-10;
Arkansas House of Representatives 2011-present; House minority leader 2012; House majority leader 2013-14.
Family: Wife, Sharon; children, Eli, Amie, Ethan, Asa.
Tommy Moll
Age: 31.
Birthplace: Fort Smith.
Residence: Hot Springs.
Education: B.A., College of William and Mary;
M.A .,London School of Economics;
J.D., Columbia Law School.
Occupation: Energy sector investor.
Business experience: Worked for Jefferies, a New York investment firm; Research assistant, Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C.
Family: Wife, Meredith.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/28/2014