Bentonville's Dotson To Seek Second House Term

Dotson
Dotson

BENTONVILLE -- Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, will run for his second term in the District 93 House seat, he announced Friday.

"I will hold true to the principles I ran on and believe in," Dotson said. "What they see is what the voters would continue to get."

Profile

Jim Dotson

(incumbent)

House District 93

Republican

Age: 36

Residency: Bentonville

Family: Wife, Jennifer; three children

Employment: Business technology consultant and owner of Datacomm, a Bentonville-based consulting business.

Education: Attended Ecclesia College, 1996-97

Military Experience: None

Political Experience: Bentonville City Council, 2009-12; State House of Representative, 2013-present

Dotson has drawn opposition in both the Republican primary and the general election. Both his announced opponents said Dotson concentrated too narrowly on social issues such as anti-abortion legislation and gun rights. Dotson disputes this, citing his support of tax reduction and interest in education.

Bill Burckart, a Bentonville businessman and City Council member, is challenging Dotson in the Republican primary. The announced Democratic candidate is Leah Williams, also a Bentonville City Council member.

"I did run as a social, fiscal and every other type of conservative there is," Dotson said. "I'm not apologizing for what I am."

Education and tort reform would be major priorities of his if re-elected, Dotson said. He hoped to be on the Education Committee in the last session, but lacked the seniority. He should have a better chance at that post if re-elected, he said.

Dotson supported tax cuts passed in the last regular session of the Legislature and supported changes to reduce civil litigation or damages, he said. He will continue to support those issues if re-elected, he said.

Dotson voted twice to override the governor's vetoes on anti-abortion measures. Both override efforts were successful. He called the 2013 regular legislative session one of the most effective on social issues in recent years, citing bills increasing "gun freedoms" such as allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry their weapons in church.

A governor's veto of state voter ID legislation was also overridden, also with Dotson voting in favor of the override, he said.

Dotson will support a "Tim Tebow" law to allow home-schooled students to participate in extracurricular activities at public schools, he said. Tebow is a former home-schooled student who played quarterback for University of Florida and became the first home-schooled athlete to win the Heisman Trophy.

The Legislature is in session, debating whether to extend the private option plan to subsidize insurance for lower-income Arkansans who make too much to qualify for Medicaid. Dotson opposed the plan when it passed last year and will continue to oppose it, he said.

"As a limited government conservative, expanding a program by $1 billion in new spending is something I don't view as a prudent course," Dotson said. "The entire private option plan is based on a foundation of the federal health care law that has been changed 35 times in the last year. It's sifting sand and bad national policy."

Dotson served on the Bentonville Advertising and Promotion Commission before serving two terms on the City Council.

NW News on 03/01/2014

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