FAYETTEVILLE -- Bills passed by the Republican supermajority in the Legislature drive up attendance at Democratic Party functions and greatly help party fundraising too, state and local Democratic leaders said at their state executive committee's first meeting in Northwest Arkansas since 2015.
Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' lifestyle choices, such as her recent trip to the Super Bowl, helps his party also, Democratic state chairman Grant Tennille said. Such trips are far beyond the means of most public servants in Arkansas, he said.
Saturday's 2 p.m. committee meeting at the Bailey Center on Mount Sequoyah drew 157 attending with another 20 joining by video link, organizers said. The party will meet all over the state as it seeks to elect more Democrats, officers of the party said.
On the local level: "We have 50 or 60 people at our last meeting and another 20 or 30 on Facebook live" video link, said Janet Renick, chairwoman of the Sebastian County Democrats. This compares to 20 or 30 on a good night before the last legislative session in early 2023, she said.
The LEARNS Act education bill passed in that legislative session and a subsequent special session to curtail the state Freedom of Information Act, exempting the governor's travel expenses from immediate scrutiny, along with restrictions on abortion all started petition drives to change the laws by direct ballot initiatives. Democrats are participating in those drives and benefiting from the public interest in those issues, Democratic leaders said.
"I do agree Republicans have been successful in passing very conservative legislation," said Senate President Bart Hester, R- Cave Springs. That is what Arkansas voters elected a conservative supermajority to do, he said. Republicans currently hold 82 of 100 state House seats and 29 of 35 state Senate seats.
As for the governor's Super Bowl trip, the governor's husband grew up near Kansas City and is a lifelong fan of the game's winners, the Kansas City Chiefs. The fact the governor has worked hard and been successful should be appreciated, he said.
"The policies of Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' and the Republican-led General Assembly are supported by the majority of Arkansans who want educational freedom, safer communities and lower taxes," said Seth Mays, Republican Party of Arkansas executive director.
Overreach by Republicans also shows in the March 5 Republican primary for the 3rd Congressional District, said Democratic congressional nominee Caitlin Draper of Fayetteville. "The low turnout shows people are not excited about reelecting Steve Womack," the incumbent, she said. Womack held off primary challenger state Sen. Clint Penzo, R-Springdale.
The state Democratic Party's improved finances allowed it to pay for its first poll in 10 years, Tennille said. The party chose not to conduct a "horse race" matchup of prospective candidates but a strategic poll of issues that resonated with voters. Planners will combine what those polls found with 2022 election results to identify districts in which Democrats came closest to defeating Republican legislative candidates.
"Financial solvency is much, much, much better than the alternative," Tennille said during Saturday's meeting. The state Democratic Party was as much as $300,000 in debt in recent years. It now enjoys a $441,000 cash balance, finance director Christina Mullinax reported at Saturday's meeting.
One of the regions where Democrats gained 43% of the vote or more in 2022 legislative races includes districts in Benton and Washington counties, Democratic Party state director Will Watson said. Many of those districts now have first-term Republican incumbents -- but those incumbents now have voting records, including votes for the LEARNS Act and curtailing the FOI. Billy Cook of Springdale and Caitlin Oxford of Elkins, who attended Saturday's meeting, said they will use those votes against the incumbents they are challenging.
"Every election cycle we hear Democrats crow about how they intend to break the supermajority of Republicans in the State Legislature, only to be silent the following November when Arkansans overwhelmingly continue to elect conservative Republicans to office," Mays said.
Whether the Democrats get the 25 House seats or nine state Senate seats needed to block the three-quarters vote required to pass a budget this year, gaining any seats or building a more robust statewide organization while helping petition drives get measures on the ballot helps show people can curb Republican excess, said said Jannie Cotton of Sherwood, the Democratic party's state vice-chair.
"Sometimes people just need some hope," she said.