Between the lines: Vehicles and votes

Lawmakers back bonds, primary election change

As quickly as they gathered, Arkansas lawmakers are gone from Little Rock.

They did what they were called to do, approving in special session an $87 million bond issue as bait for a major defense contract.

That was the primary reason Gov. Asa Hutchinson called the Legislature back in session, but it was not the only reason.

He also wanted a change in the timing for the presidential primary in Arkansas. He got that, too, as lawmakers voted to shift the primary from May to March to join other Southern states in what is being hyped as the "SEC primary." Some of the states involved are also those with collegiate athletic teams in the Southeastern Conference.

The bond issue was a concession to the way super projects are won and lost these days, giving Lockheed Martin millions of taxpayer-financed reasons to expand a plant in Camden to build a new military vehicle.

The company still has to win the Department of Defense contract, besting a couple of competitors that have just as high an expectation they will be awarded this major economic opportunity.

The contract will be to build 55,000 joint light tactical vehicles for the U.S. Army and Marines over the next 25 years. The new vehicle is the successor to the military's Humvees.

Whether Arkansas' gamble was great enough won't be known until sometime in July apparently, when the contract will be let. And, while some expect Lockheed Martin to win out, the other competitors have some experience in building vehicles that might factor in the decision.

So the bond issue may or may not make a difference. It may bring new jobs and secure older ones. Or it might not be used at all, if the contract goes elsewhere.

In the meantime, the state's politicians and the wannabe politicians have some scrambling to do to adapt to the new election timetable.

While the shift is supposed to give Arkansas voters a bigger say in the choice of presidential nominees, it could impact state and local elections more.

Unlike in 2008, when Arkansas last moved its presidential primary up, lawmakers this time agreed to move up all the primaries, avoiding the expense of separate elections.

That's better for taxpayers but not necessarily best for state and local politics.

People who are pondering runs for election (or re-election) must decide sooner, get their campaigns organized and go to work much earlier than they would have for a May primary.

The process probably favors incumbents over challengers, although either will be put in the position of having to appeal for votes and or financial support when people least want to see them.

There is the specter of political campaigning during the holidays, a time when the public might not be terribly receptive to the door knocking of candidates for the Legislature, a judgeship or county office.

In 2016, those are the offices to be filled at the district and county level. Statewide offices like governor will be midway through four-year terms and unaffected by this one-time, temporary change in the primary.

The negative impact will be on district-level and county elections; but lawmakers, with encouragement from Gov. Hutchinson, still made the change.

As for how much more of a voice Arkansas might gain in the presidential election, who knows?

Theoretically, because there is such a large field of Republican candidates this time around, a simultaneous primary in southern states fairly early in the process should likely help winnow the field. The expectation is the surviving presidential candidates will have some kinship with southern voters.

There is also hope that greater relevance to the presidential selection will bring out more voters in Arkansas. That would be welcome, of course, although Arkansas will still be a comparatively small player among the states holding a common primary.

Major candidates simply are likely to spend more time and more money campaigning in larger southern states with more delegates up for grabs.

Plus, with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the Republican race, other candidates may cede Arkansas votes to him, spending their political capital elsewhere.

Hillary Clinton's Arkansas ties, including a dozen years as the state's first lady, similarly help position the former U.S. secretary of state to win the Democratic primary here.

Maybe there's some advantage to Clinton or Huckabee to rack up votes in Arkansas in March as opposed to May. It's just hard to see what that advantage really is.

Commentary on 06/03/2015

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