In The First District: A Debate, A Departure, and An Early Poll Result

First District Cong. Rick Crawford (R) will debate his three challengers in October at a forum to held at Arkansas State University.

Crawford will meet Democratic challenger Scott Ellington, Green Party nominee Jacob Holloway, and Libertarian candidate Jessica Paxton at a debate to be hosted by ASU’s political science department.

The date and time is still not settled.

The debate news follows a report this morning from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that says Ellington’s campaign manager, Mark Warren, has exited his post. Warren was being paid by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

Warren’s departure is a sign that Ellington’s campaign is not making much progress in its effort to unseat Crawford, who was perceived as vulnerable after Congressional redistricting added several Democratic-leaning counties to the First District. As the general election draws near, DCCC resources are usually re-directed to campaigns with better odds for success.

Ellington downplayed Warren’s exit and told the Democrat-Gazette that the former campaign manager was brought in to straighten out organizational problems, but was “redeployed” by the national party.

Talk Business and Hendrix College have been in the field this week with Congressional District polling. Preliminary results indicate Crawford has a healthy lead in the race.

The full poll results will be released on Sunday night on Talk Business, which airs at 10 pm on Fox 16.