Mike Ross is a former congressman, who once owned a pharmacy. Lynette Bryant is a substitute teacher, who has completed medical school but isn't licensed to practice medicine in Arkansas.

On May 20, one of them will become the Democratic nominee for governor.

Ross, who served in the state Senate from 1991-2001 and in Congress from 2001-2013, said voters should elect him as the Democratic nominee because he has the experience, temperament and steadiness to lead the state, and a positive vision focused on improving education, creating more and better-paying jobs, and making taxes lower and more fair. Ross has raised more than $4 million.

Bryant, a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, lost a 2012 bid for the Little Rock Board of Directors. In 2010, she ran unsuccessfully twice -- once for the city board and once for the state Legislature. She hasn't received a single donation, according to her most recent campaign-finance reports.

Ross is also outpacing Bryant when it comes to endorsements.

Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe backs him. So does former President and Gov. Bill Clinton.

Last August, Beebe said of Ross that if the state is going to continue prioritizing education and economic development, building on its progress and understanding its obligation to "take care of those less fortunate than ourselves," and "do this together across party lines and do it in a way that is constructive the way the Founding Fathers meant, then this is the man that knows how to get that done."

Bryant accuses state Democratic Party Chairman Vince Insalaco of North Little Rock of endorsing Ross before the primary in violation of the party's rules -- a claim Insalaco denies.

She also criticizes Ross for lining up the endorsement from Beebe.

"He had to have known that an early endorsement from Gov. Mike Beebe, even though I adore Gov. Beebe, is wrong because it sends a subliminal message that this is my choice before anybody else can get out there and say, 'I want to run for these offices as well,'" she said.

Ross said he's also proud to have endorsements from Clinton, 65 of the state's 75 county sheriffs, and 56 county judges.

With his eye on possibly running for governor, Ross announced in July 2011 that he wouldn't run for re-election to Congress in 2012.

Then, he announced in May 2012 that he would skip the race and take a job with Little Rock-based Southwest Power Pool, instead.

But he entered the race in April 2013 after Democratic Attorney General Dustin McDaniel of Little Rock disclosed having an inappropriate relationship with a Hot Springs attorney and bowed out of the race.

Ross' fundraising success prompted another Democratic candidate, former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter of North Little Rock, to withdraw from the race in July.

Since then, Ross has unveiled proposals to cut the state's individual income taxes and the state's sales taxes on manufacturers, and expand the availability of the state's pre-kindergarten program.

Ross has proposed overhauling the state's income-tax brackets to gradually phase in changes that he said would ultimately reduce state tax revenue by about $575 million.

Ross said the tax cuts would be paid for from the growth in state tax revenue and that the state would continue to maintain a balanced budget and protect important state services like education, Medicaid and public safety. Ross said his goal would be to implement his planned tax cuts during the eight years that he hopes to serve as governor, but that implementation would depend on the growth in state revenue.

Ross also has proposed gradually cutting the state's sales and use tax on the partial replacement and repair of machinery used in manufacturing to help bolster manufacturing. That would eventually reduce state tax revenue by about $40 million a year, he said.

Bryant said she didn't have any particular tax-cut proposals, adding that she would work with lawmakers to see what proposals they want to enact.

Ross also has proposed phasing in an expansion of the state's pre-kindergarten program that he said would cost the state about $37 million more a year after it's fully implemented within 10 years.

He has generally steered clear of talking about Bryant, instead focusing on Hutchinson, the former 3rd District congressman and Republican gubernatorial hopeful from Rogers.

Poll numbers, fundraising and endorsements don't offer Bryant much encouragement. But when people ask her about her decision to run, she has pointed to the Bible and encouraged doubters to believe.

She even has an advertisement featuring the slogan "The Mustard Seed" and citing Matthew 13:31-32.

In the passage, (according to the New International Version of the Bible) Jesus states: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches." A few chapters later, Jesus says: "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Asked why she should be elected governor after losing three lesser races in 2010 and 2012, Bryant said she doesn't consider her 2012 loss to City Director Dean Kumpuris "as being a loss. I looked at it as being a win because my numbers went up [compared with previous races]." In a three-way race, she received 36 percent of the vote.

Bryant, who reported loaning her campaign more than $14,000 through the end of March, solicits campaign contributions on her website, votedocbryant.com, but reported receiving no donations as of March 31. Asked about her inability to raise money, Bryant said she has turned down campaign contributions because she doesn't want to be "owned," but declined to name anyone who has tried to donate.

Bryant said she has been a substitute teacher in the Little Rock School District and declined to discuss her earlier work history.

As governor, she said she'll focus on improving the state's schools.

"I believe that our educational problem is too much government," said Bryant.

She said she favors a proposed constitutional amendment to make preschool free for all students and possibly seeking funds from the lottery to help pay for the program. The lottery's net proceeds are now devoted solely to college scholarships.

Their positions on other issues are:

• Abortion: Ross said he personally opposes abortion except to protect the health and life of the mother and in cases of rape and incest, and he believes that abortion should be safe, legal and rare.

Bryant said she believes abortion "is up to the individual person," adding, "I believe that you stand before God and you give your sins to him."

While Ross has said he would have vetoed bills to ban most abortions after the 12th and 20th weeks of pregnancy, like Beebe did last year, Bryant said, "I hadn't thought about that. I am not going to compare myself to Mike Ross."

• Common Core: Bryant said she would work to get rid of Common Core standards approved by the state Board of Education in 2010 because they involve "too much government" in the public schools and they're difficult to achieve.

Ross said the national standards were written by Democratic and Republican governors and the business community.

"I still think there is still some challenges that I will work with all parties involved to try to address as governor," he said, but he won't ask the state Board of Education to repeal the standards or the Legislature to enact a law repealing them.

• Gay marriage. Ross said he opposes gay marriage, adding that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Bryant said she wouldn't push for or against gay marriage, adding that she has "no opinion on that as of yet because I don't judge."

• Private option: Ross said he would protect the state's program that uses federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for low-income Arkansans. More than 120,000 Arkansans have been enrolled for health insurance coverage through the program.

"It will literally make the difference in whether some of our hospitals survive or not," he said, adding Arkansas' version of Medicaid expansion will help hospitals survive cuts in Medicare reimbursement and get paid for treating people whom the hospitals previously treated for free.

Bryant said she would like to keep the private-option program and would ask Republican lawmakers what they don't like about it and what changes they favor.

Sunday on 05/11/2014