Rep. Rice enters House Speaker race

Editor’s note: Roby Brock, with our content partner Talk Business, wrote this report. He can be reached at [email protected]

We’ve known for months that the likely showdown for the next Speaker of the House for the 2013 session will be between Democratic Rep. Darrin Williams (D-Little Rock) and Republican Rep. Terry Rice (R-Waldron).

Make it official.

While Williams contacted House members formally nearly 10 months ago about his interest, Rice recently sent a letter formally declaring his candidacy for Arkansas Speaker of the House.

"… As you know, I have expressed interest in, and am now formally announcing my candidacy for, the Speaker of the House for the 89th General Assembly," the letter dated Oct. 1 states.

"I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the challenges we will address as an institution — balancing our budget, improving education, and ensuring that every person who is in need of a job can find one," Rice stated. "Each of us, regardless of our party, was elected to faithfully and diligently serve all of our constituents. Rising unemployment is a serious problem that we can only solve together."

Rice’s letter, which was sent to all members of the House, also calls for a degree of bipartisanship.

"As you are aware, those families pinching pennies each week to make ends meet do not care which political party is in charge. Quite frankly, neither should we. We must work across party lines to find conservative solutions," Rice writes.

His letter ends with a reference to his father and grandfather — both Democrats — who served in the Arkansas House. He argues that his small business experience would serve him well as Speaker, too.

"I hope that my words and actions have allowed you to view and trust my sincerity. Simply, my word is my bond. With the support of my family, I have the opportunity to give a full time focus on the duties of Speaker of the House," he said. "Therefore, I humbly ask for your vote as the next Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives."

Rice is a two-term Republican representative from Waldron, Arkansas (Scott County). The current make-up of the Arkansas House is 54 Democrats and 46 Republicans.

There is much speculation that whichever party wins control of the House could overturn the election if a member of the other party wins the Speaker’s race, which will be held at the conclusion of the fiscal session in early 2012.