ROGERS -- Covid dangers are real and vaccines are safe, but anti-covid measures such as mask and vaccine mandates by government and private businesses have been too broad-brush and punitive, the state surgeon general said Tuesday.
Dr. Gregory Bledsoe appeared at Tuesday's meeting of the Republican Women of Benton County with primary opponent Doyle Webb in the lieutenant governor race. Webb also said imposing local or business mask and vaccine mandates goes too far.
The two other announced primary opponents are Joseph Wood, county judge of Washington County, and Sen. Jason Rapert of Conway. Both are scheduled to appear at the women group's Sept. 21 meeting. No Democrats were in the running for the statewide office as of Tuesday.
The candidate elected to the office won't be sworn in until January 2023. Still, the resurgent covid pandemic took up almost all of the questioning from the audience of more than 50 people.
Paige Fogg of Bentonville told the candidates she knows a single mother of four who was told by her employer her vaccine appointment was set for Monday and her pay would be withheld if she didn't take it. The mother won't take a vaccine because of religious beliefs, Fogg said, asking the candidates what recourse her friend has.
Both Webb and Bledsoe said the only option for now is to resort to the courts. Webb, an attorney, said some sort of wrongful termination suit might be appropriate, but the mother involved needed to talk with an attorney about the particulars of her situation.
Both Bledsoe and Webb touted their experience as a reason to support them as candidates. Bledsoe cited his wide range of experience outside government as a doctor, academic and businessman. Webb cited his experience in government and politics as a 12-year chairman of the state's Republican Party and as former chief of staff when Win Rockefeller was lieutenant governor.
Webb said he's disappointed to see the party he helped build have so much acrimony among its members, with fierce disagreements about covid measures and other issues. He has worked directly with the campaigns of every Republican statewide official, congressman and legislator in the state, he said.
"If anyone can go whisper to any of them, 'You're full of crap,' I'm the one who can do it," he said.
Bledsoe is a son of state Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers. He cited his and his family's help on Republican campaigns back when Arkansas was a heavily Democratic state.
Bledsoe was asked why the covid vaccines haven't received final approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration if they are safe. He replied the FDA has a long and well-documented history of being a highly bureaucratic organization long in need of reform and the delay in full approval is largely a result of this process.