FAYETTEVILLE -- Springdale's state House District 89 race is a choice between experience or inclusive enthusiasm, the Democratic candidate said at a Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce candidate's forum.
No, the race is a choice between inexperienced inclusive enthusiasm and experienced inclusive enthusiasm, his Republican opponent replied. The forum was held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the former chamber headquarters on Mountain Street.
Former county assessor Jeff Williams, the Republican, is running against Democrat Irvin Camacho in Camacho's first bid for elective office. There is no incumbent in the race. Republican Micah Neal, R-Springdale, decided against running for re-election for family and business reasons. His family owns the landmark Neal's Cafe in Springdale.
Williams has 16 years experience in elective office that includes service on the Springdale City Council. Camacho has political experience as the organizer of peace marches in Springdale and as a community activist, but this is his first bid for elective office.
The district's Hispanic population has grown to 47 percent of the people in the district, Camacho said. They deserve a voice that can speak for all in the district. Williams said he has lived in the district for decades, knows and is friends with the people there and can represent them all. The district has a considerable Marshallese population too, both candidates said.
Both candidates said they would support paid medical leave. Camacho also said he would support in-state tuition at Arkansas universities for students who graduated from Arkansas high schools but without clear U.S. citizenship. Williams reminded the audience that then-Attorney General Mike Beebe, a Democrat and current Gov. Asa Hutchinson's predecessor as governor, had warned lawmakers that such in-state tuition to non-citizens without granting the same privilege to all U.S. citizens in all states would violate federal law. Some supporters of the measure dispute that view, but it has been the position of the state attorney general's office ever since.
Both supported the "Arkansas Works" health care plan. "I've said it before: Obamacare is the law of the land," Williams said. Camacho said he supported the plan in fact and in principle.
Williams said he has friends and contacts in the state Legislature, having worked with lawmakers in recent legislative sessions as a county official. Camacho replied, "I'm not going to Little Rock to make friends. I'm going to make sure Springdale has a piece of the pie." Williams replied in turn that that will require contacts and relationships.
"You've got to be effective," Williams said. "Simply desiring to do good isn't necessarily enough."
NW News on 09/29/2016