Election Profiles: Arkansas Senate District 6

Editor’s note: Between Oct. 13 and Oct. 27, The City Wire will present information from candidates in 15 key races in Crawford County, Sebastian County, Fort Smith and area legislative districts. A schedule of races presented will accompany this article and each article in the series.

Greenwood resident Bruce Holland (R) and State Rep. John Paul Wells, D-Paris, hope to capture the Arkansas Senate District 6 seat that covers most of Sebastian (excluding most of Fort Smith), Scott and Logan counties. The district also includes the northern top of Polk County.

The seat is open because Sen. Ed Wilkinson, D-Greenwood, is term-limited.

And although the seat has been held by a Democrat for several terms, this unusual political cycle that seems to favor Republicans could end that dominance. An early September 2010 survey by Talk Business Research/Hendrix College quantified the voter mood.

"Party identification produces sizable leads for Republicans at this juncture of the general election cycle, but if you remove the party labels you get much different results with Democrats leading opponents as well as a much larger undecided voting bloc,” Talk Business executive editor Roby Brock said in the survey report.

On Aug. 21, Arkansas GOP Executive Director Chase Duggar said their polling had Holland with a 14-point lead over Rep. Wells.

“It’s likely we’ll go back (to the 2011 General Assembly) with more Republicans than ever before,” Duggar said in the first public announcement by the party of its internal polling results. “I think that’s the first time we’ve been in that shape.”
Some political watchers have said the Republicans could have 40 seats in the 100-seat Arkansas House of Representatives.

CANDIDATE RESPONSE REQUEST
In 400 words or less, please identify what you believe to be the top three needs/issues in your district and what you plan to do in Little Rock to address the needs/issues.

To the following list, simply note whether you are you FOR or AGAINST the item.
FOR or AGAINST: Renewal of the Governor’s quick action closing fund
FOR or AGAINST: Elimination of the remaining 2% sales tax on groceries
FOR or AGAINST: Raising user fees and/or fuel taxes or other taxes to pay for highway improvements
FOR or AGAINST: Consideration of an increase to the number of terms allowed under Arkansas’ term-limit law.

• Bruce Holland response:
The top three issues in Senate district 6 are Jobs, Spending, and Illegal immigration.

First of all jobs need to be created. The best opportunity in this district for job growth is the development of Chaffee Crossing. To show business that we are committed to job growth we must continue to build I-49. With the Fort Smith area being the crossroads of the United States and the quality of the workforce in Western Arkansas, businesses couldn’t help but be drawn to the area.

I will work with Arkansas’s US Senators and Congressmen to get federal funding for this important Interstate Highway. I am convinced that when this project gets started we will have the most attractive location in the USA to build new factories and businesses.

Second is Spending. The voters of this district are fed up with the wasteful spending in our state. Arkansas has the fifth fastest growing state government in the nation. In these troubled times businesses large and small are forced to cut back in every way possible to keep their doors open. Arkansas’s state government should tighten up as well instead of expanding.

We must be more responsible with our tax dollars. I will work to pass legislation to limit state government growth and see that our tax dollars go further.

The third issue important to the voters in this district is illegal immigration. I support Arizona in their efforts to control illegal immigration in their state. The most important function of the federal government is to protect its citizens. When the federal government doesn’t take that responsibility then the states must act. I believe we should reinforce our state laws so that Arkansas does not become a place where as these illegal’s can find safe haven.

• Rep. John Paul Wells response:
Jobs
Create jobs in our area. During my six years in the House of Representatives, I worked closely with my friend, Senator Ed Wilkinson, to create 2,800 jobs in the counties of Senate District 6. This effort needs to be one of our first priorities; jobs, not government, grow our economy. Legislation must be passed that creates an environment that is conducive to small and large business coming to, growing in, and expanding in the 6th Senate District. Programs such as the Governor’s Quick Action Fund are fundamental to creating the right conditions to grow jobs here at home.

Education
Over 70% of the state’s general revenue goes toward public education. We passed legislation four years ago to address the lack of transparency of achievement in schools and I think this has been a good start — but only a start!  We have to ensure that the basics of a good education are being addressed and hold schools to high standards.  When the standards are not met, we must deal with the problems head-on. We can do better in public education by looking at teacher compensation programs versus student academic performance.

Highway Infrastructure
Our highway infrastructure needs to be better maintained.  I believe heavier users should be more accountable for damage to our highways. We should look at the current taxes on items such as automobile parts and batteries and dedicate those tax dollars to highway infrastructure instead of those tax dollars going into general revenue.  Taxes would not be increased and highway infrastructure would have a new source of revenue.