House Democrats select new leader

Special to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette - 06/20/2014 - State Representative District 37 Eddie L. Armstrong III
Special to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette - 06/20/2014 - State Representative District 37 Eddie L. Armstrong III

Democrats in the state House of Representatives on Friday elected Rep. Eddie Armstrong of North Little Rock as their leader, after state Rep. Greg Leding of Fayetteville decided not to seek re-election as the caucus's leader.

Armstrong, a 35-year-old sales representative for Pathology Partners LLC in Little Rock and a first-term legislator, said in a written statement that he wants to "unify the caucus through transparency and communications while working with members across the aisle to pass legislation that benefits the working people of Arkansas."

"It's a big step and a huge responsibility, and I won't take it lightly," he said in an interview.

The House comprises 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and a member of the Green Party, after the Democrats lost control of the House and Senate to the Republicans in November 2012 for the first time since Reconstruction. Republicans also have won state constitutional offices and seats in Congress during the past two elections.

Leding, who is serving his second term, said he decided in April not to run for the leadership post, which he has held for the past 20 months.

Under the state's term limits amendment, he can only serve one more term in the House, and he said he wants to use that time to push for bills relating to job training, pay equity, paid family leave, in-state tuition for high school graduates whose parents are in the country illegally, and creation of an entrepreneurship-in-residence program.

He said he represents a fairly liberal district and that he wouldn't be able to spend as much time on issues such as pay equity legislation for public employees and "marriage equality" if he remained as the House Democratic leader in 2015 and 2016. He said he represented the House Democratic caucus "as a whole first" as its leader.

State Rep. Joe Jett, D-Success, said Leding "has done yeoman's work, but we felt like it was a time for a change in leadership, and I think Mr. Armstrong will do us an outstanding job.

"This is not a spur of the moment thing," said Jett, a first-term representative who is stepping down as House Democratic whip. "This has been in discussion for the past two or three months."

Jett said he wouldn't want to bet on either the Democrats regaining control of the House or the Republicans retaining control of the House.

Armstrong said he plans to serve as the House Democratic leader through mid-2016.

He said his "leadership might be a little different" than Leding's, but he wouldn't be "tremendously different."

The House Democrats can regain control of the chamber by focusing on properly educating children, improving the health of Arkansans and providing good-paying jobs to help people "become part of the American dream and the Arkansas dream," Armstrong said.

"Sometimes we get distracted by social issues," he said on the same day the Legislative Council approved a resolution urging the state Supreme Court to uphold the state's same-sex marriage ban and to overturn a lower court ruling that struck it down.

The House Democrats also elected state Rep. Tommy Thompson of Morrilton over David Whitaker of Fayetteville to be House Democratic whip, then elected Whitaker to be their secretary and Rep. John Baine of El Dorado to be their treasurer. Thompson succeeds Jett, Whitaker succeeds Armstrong, and Baine succeeds Rep. Deborah Ferguson of West Memphis.

Three months ago, the House Republicans elected Rep. Ken Bragg of Sheridan as their leader to succeed Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs, who is running for the 4th Congressional District seat. Bragg defeated three other candidates to win the post.

Bragg, 62, is a regional manager for Resource Management Service LLC and is serving his first term as a state representative. He previously served as a Democrat on the Sheridan City Council.

The House Republicans also elected Rep. Jim Dotson of Bentonville as their majority whip and Rep. Charlotte Douglas of Alma as their secretary.

Metro on 06/21/2014

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