Primaries Settle All Major Races But Attorney General

The surprise is there really weren’t any surprises, but there was a lot of drama.

Both political parties picked nominees for Arkansas Governor, while Republicans chose candidates for a slate of federal and statewide general election races in the Tuesday, May 20 primary.

Asa Hutchinson cruised to an easy victory over challenger Curtis Coleman in the GOP gubernatorial primary giving the former Third District Congressman momentum for the fall in his fourth race as a statewide nominee.

The 63-year old Hutchinson, the GOP nominee for Governor in 2006, has also run as the Republican nominee for Attorney General and U.S. Senate, but has come up short in his three previous runs.

“It’s time to move Arkansas forward in a conservative direction and get our beautiful state back to work again,” said Hutchinson, who adopted the moniker of the “jobs governor.”

Now, he’ll face Democratic winner Mike Ross, also a former Congressman from the Fourth District, in a race that is expected to be competitive with poll results showing Hutchinson with a lead.

Hutchinson laid the foundation in his victory speech and subsequent interviews calling Ross a “Nancy Pelosi protege” — a hint of the forthcoming sharply-contested, aggressive contest. Hutchinson also challenged Ross to a “series of debates” in the coming months.

“The Democrats under the leadership of Mike Ross don’t believe as we conservatives do. Their way is the way of President Obama and Nancy Pelosi, one that would see continued high taxes, and limiting second amendment rights,” Hutchinson said.

Ross, age 52, also easily won his party primary against underfunded and unconvincing challenger Lynette Bryant. The polls closed at 7:30 pm and within the hour Ross was stepping to the podium to deliver his victory speech.

“I am humbled and tremendously honored by the results of tonight’s election,” said Ross. “I have been overwhelmed by the tremendous outpouring of support we’ve received all over the state, and we are well on our way to building the largest grassroots campaign in state history.. . I may be outspent, but no one will work harder.”

Ross, who said he wants to be known as the “education Governor,” seemed prepared to go blow-to-blow with Hutchinson and he used the platform of his victory speech to once again tie himself to Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, who has endorsed him.

“Voters now have very different choices for their next governor,” Ross said. “We can tear down the progress we’ve made over the last few years and let partisan politics sweep over Arkansas. Or, we can build on the foundation Governor Beebe has laid and work together to build a better, brighter Arkansas for every child and every family in this great state.”

Another indicator of the competitiveness of the Arkansas Governor’s race appeared in 10 pm TV campaign coverage. A Mike Ross for Governor ad appeared in the 10 pm news on KATV Ch. 7 that took swipes at Hutchinson and touted Ross’ candidacy.

Joshua Drake is the Green Party candidate for Governor and Frank Gilbert is the Libertarian nominee. They will both be on the ballot in November.

DOWN BALLOT
In the Lt. Governor’s race, retiring Second District Cong. Tim Griffin won a three-person GOP primary against State Reps. Andy Mayberry and Debra Hobbs. Griffin, who was stuck in Washington, D.C. with his Congressional duties, “Skyped” into his watch night party in Little Rock.

He will face Democrat John Burkhalter and Libertarian Chris Olson in the November election.

Republican voters chose State Rep. Andrea Lea and Saline Co. Circuit Clerk Dennis Milligan as their State Auditor and State Treasurer candidates, respectively. Lea easily defeated and challenger Ken Yang and Milligan stretched an early lead on Rep. Duncan Baird in gaining their nominations.

Lea will face Democrat Regina Hampton and Libertarian Brian Leach this fall. Milligan will be challenged by Democrat Karen Garcia and Libertarian Chris Hayes in the fall general election.

CONGRESS
In the Second Congressional District, early polling by Talk Business and Hendrix College showed French Hill as the frontrunner for the GOP nomination. The poll indicated that Hill could win the primary without a run-off.

Indeed, Hill did defeat his other two challengers — State Rep. Ann Clemmer and Col. Conrad Reynolds — garnering roughly 55% of the district vote.

Hill will face Democrat Pat Hays, a former mayor of North Little Rock, and Libertarian Debbie Standiford.

Rep. Bruce Westerman, the House Majority Leader, held off a withering barrage of attack ads from Republican challenger Tommy Moll. Westerman held a 47-10% advantage in a Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll released at the beginning of the month, but Moll’s accusations that Westerman twice sponsored Obamacare closed that gap.

The race was tight throughout early returns as Westerman maintained a 51-49% lead. When his native Garland County returns came in, Westerman’s lead stretched to nearly ten points.

Westerman faces Democrat James Lee Witt in November as well as Libertarian nominee Ken Hamilton.

GOP ATTORNEY GENERAL RUN-OFF
Perhaps the biggest drama of the evening was the three-person GOP field for Attorney General. With a large undecided vote heading into early voting period, conventional wisdom was that the race between Leslie Rutledge, Patricia Nation and David Sterling would eventually end in a run-off.

In early returns, Sterling hovered around the 50% mark, but slid below that level as more precincts reported. For most of the evening he held a solid lead, but as the night wore on and more boxes came in, Rutledge surged and leads the ticket heading into a June 10 run-off against Sterling.

The winner of the Rutledge-Sterling run-off faces Democrat Nate Steel and Libertarian candidate Aaron Cash in November.

In the only statewide judicial race, Court of Appeals Judge Robin Wynne outpaced attorney Tim Cullen in a race for the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Also of note, using the Governor’s primary races as a barometer, Republican primary voters outpaced Democratic primary voters for the first time in modern history.  More than 176,000 voters cast ballots in the crowded GOP primaries. Democrats recorded more than 154,000 voters despite only having one statewide contest for Governor.