State senate candidates tout conservative records, criticize one another

Two well-known Arkansas conservatives are facing off to become the Republican Party's candidate in the state Senate District 5 election.

Sen. Bryan King of Green Forest wants to continue representing the district for another four years. The district curves from the Missouri line to Oklahoma through Madison County, most of Carroll and Crawford counties, and part of Franklin, Johnson and Washington counties.

State Rep. Bob Ballinger of Berryville hopes to take his place.

Early voting for the May 22 primary begins Monday. The winner faces Democrat Jim Wallace and Libertarian Lee Evans in the fall.

Ballinger and King have made names for themselves with their conservative stands.

King, who served in the House from 2007 to 2013 and has been in the Senate since, sponsored the state's 2013 photo-ID requirement for voters and the law allowing concealed handguns in churches.

Ballinger has been in the House since 2013 and successfully pushed for state laws limiting city anti-discrimination laws and laying out religious freedom protections.

The two differ in priorities.

Ballinger, a lawyer with the Story Law Firm in Fayetteville, pointed to lowering state income tax rates for those making more than $75,000 a year. People making less than that have received lower income tax rates during the past few legislative sessions, so it's time to finish the job for everyone and be more competitive with states that have no income tax, he said.

"We have a lot more we need to do with that," he said.

King, a cattle and poultry farmer, said his driving principle is controlling state spending. He's long opposed the state's Medicaid expansion, now called Arkansas Works, which provides health coverage to hundreds of thousands of Arkansas adults at low or no cost. He said he's prodded the state to be vigilant in checking that those enrolled remain eligible.

"I look out after the people's tax dollars," King said. "We're on an unsustainable spending level. We're not in a recession, and we're spending more money than ever."

The primary contest is also somewhat personal.

Ballinger said King hasn't done a good job representing his district and often seems to grandstand for attention. King has clashed with party leaders, including Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who was quoted in February in a newspaper article saying "everything Senator King proposes is of growing irrelevance."

"Every bill I've ever ran has a purpose that, in my mind, benefits the citizens of Arkansas," Ballinger said.

King said he has challenged a culture of corruption at the Capitol where legislators do personal business with health care and Medicaid providers. He originally didn't plan to run for re-election but changed his mind because of recent court cases he said revealed the problem.

A former Pine Bluff legislator pleaded guilty Monday to federal bribery and conspiracy charges after accepting money to push for certain laws. Another public corruption investigation led to a guilty plea by former state Rep. Micah Neal and the fraud conviction of former state Sen. Jon Woods, both Republicans of Springdale.

"Hopefully the culture in Little Rock's changing," King said. "I don't participate in the inside deals in Little Rock."

King said that culture includes Ballinger, who directed state grant money to the private Ecclesia College in Springdale and provided services to them through his work. Neal pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks from the college, and its former president last month pleaded guilty to fraud for directing state grants to the school in return for kickbacks.

Ballinger said he and other legislators simply saw the potential of a small, private college that includes students from his district. He criticized what he called "vague accusations and innuendos" from King.

"It shows they can't attack my record," Ballinger said.

NW News on 05/04/2018