Election Central: A Little Love For The Land Commissioner Race

The debate over debates continued on Friday. Talk Business & Politics host Roby Brock has today’s Election Central Daily Brief.

MORE DEBATE DEBATE
Sen. Mark Pryor — who held a manufacturing business roundtable in Little Rock — said he was open to other topics of debate proposed by the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. The chamber debate proposal confined issues to education, infrastructure and jobs. Pryor, who has accepted that debate, said he’d be willing to expand the subject matter. Cotton, who has accepted other debates but not the Fayetteville Chamber one, said they have questions about the Fayetteville proposal but are still open to it.

FOURTH DISTRICT INFRASTRUCTURE
James Lee Witt (D) and Bruce Westerman (R) advocating different positions on highway funding in the Fourth District Congressional race. With the House passage of a measure this week taking money from one pot to another, Westerman said it’s the wrong approach. He said highway funding for projects like I-49 in western Arkansas need to demonstrate they should be funded versus earmarking federal funds.

Witt has proposed an infrastructure plan for the Fourth District that includes public-private partnerships. He says he does not support toll roads in the district although it might need to be studied later. More on this story at TalkBusiness.net.

LAND COMMISSIONER MONEY
How about a little action in the Land Commissioner’s race?  Democrat Mark Robertson bragging that he has outraised his incumbent opponent, current Land Commissioner Republican John Thurston. Robertson also said he has more cash on hand than Thurston. Robertson is sitting on $21,000 in cash to Thurston’s $8,500. Not quite U.S. Senate dollars, but you gotta look for an advantage anywhere in those down ballot races.

Don’t forget — Elvis Presley is the Libertarian candidate in that race.

TALK BUSINESS & POLITICS PREVIEW
On this week’s Talk Business & Politics TV program:  Bill Kristol, editor and publisher of the Weekly Standard. He’s in Arkansas to give a keynote address to the state GOP’s Reagan-Rockefeller dinner on Friday night. We’ll talk the U.S. Senate race and some international geopolitics.

Also, the Civil Rights Act turned 50 this month. Two Arkansans on the front lines of integration – Sen. Linda Chesterfield and businessman Sherman Tate – sit down for a roundtable discussion on race with KATV’s Scott Inman.

Plus our top political and business headlines and a look at the stock market with Delta Trust’s Bob Williams. All of that on Talk Business & Politics, which airs Sunday morning at 9am on KATV Ch. 7.