Cook: Checking In On The Attorney General’s Race

This election cycle there’s been much attention for the races for U.S. Senate, Governor, Congress and even Lt. Governor. However, one race that hasn’t received a lot of attention yet is the race for Attorney General.

I thought we’d take a quick look at this race. The first place to start is to examine the candidates fundraising reports. All of the announced candidates filed reports on January 15th which detailed their fundraising and expenditures for the last quarter of 2013.

The totals below include any funds each candidate loaned to their campaign.

Nate Steel (D)
Total Raised – $293,993
Cash on Hand – $181,969

Leslie Rutledge (R)
Total Raised – $150,934
Cash on Hand – $120,243

David Sterling (R)
Total Raised – $128,384
Cash on Hand – $104,550

Democrat Nate Steel has brought in significantly more cash than his Republic rivals. It should be noted Steel made a sizable loan of $100,000 to his campaign.

On the Republican side it surprised me how close Rutledge and Sterling were in the amount of money each raised.  I previously believed Sterling would be a fringe-like candidate, but I incorrectly counted him out too soon. He’s neck-in-neck with Rutledge in fundraising and either could win the nomination.

At a time when the Republic Party has gained serious power in Arkansas, I’m still amazed at the lack of quality candidates for the Republic nomination for Attorney General. Neither announced candidate has held elective office and neither start off with any significant political or geographic base.

Steel is a third-term State Representative from Nashville and comes from a very prominent and politically connected Southwest Arkansas family.

Currently Sterling and Rutledge are in a race to see who can make it to the far-right the fastest. Whether it be David Sterling wading into the Duck Dynasty controversy for political gain or Rutledge railing against Obamacare and socialized medicine. Neither issue has anything to do with the the role of AG.  Of course, Medicare is actually socialized medicine, but don’t tell Rutledge that.

Being the only female in the race was an important advantage for Rutledge. However, news came yesterday that Jacksonville attorney Patricia Nation is set to announce her AG candidacy soon.  If there is another female in the race, then obviously Rutledge loses that advantage.

Steel is likely to remain unopposed in the primary, allowing him to build up a warchest for use against the eventual GOP nominee. And he has a party united behind his candidacy, avoiding a divisive nomination fight.

It now appears the Republican nominee must endure a costly primary and a run-off. That could be slightly advantageous for the Republic nominee since he/she will have created an organization, tested messages and built up name recognition. But after those races, the GOP nominee will be broke and must start all over again fundraising for the November election.

In the end, I believe the advantage of nomination fight vs. no-nomination fight becomes a wash, giving neither nominee a major leg-up.

As the Attorney General race heats up, we’ll check back in to see where everything stands.

For the moment, however, this race has been oddly quiet. But since this is Arkansas politics, that could change in an instance.