John Burris: Sen. English Reminds Us That Age Is Just A Number

I had lunch last week with State Senator Jane English. I shouldn’t have waited so long to ask for a meeting. It reminded me of the many reasons I like her so much.

We met in 2008. Then, she was in her late sixties; I was in my early twenties. We were newly elected members of the House of Representatives, equal in standing but not in experience. Despite that, she was persistently excited when talking about my age. It was just a number, she’d firmly say.

We sat near each other, in a front corner of the House floor. Rep. John Edwards (D) and Rep. Allen Kerr (R) completed our end of the front row.

Even then, she was never prone to boredom. When a rare skirmish or debate broke out, she enjoyed it. But she’s also an encourager, and to me has always appeared happiest when there’s a clear strategy being executed well. Team play, in other words.

These are lessons of character she undoubtedly learned early in life.

Jane’s father was career Army. She met Don, her husband, while living in Germany with family. He was a young Army officer at the time. A blind date was their first meeting.

They’ve now been married 55 years. He retired as a Colonel after 30 years of service, with two infantry deployments to Vietnam, a Silver Star, and a stint at the Old Guard and with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She’s served in multiple appointed roles in state government, mostly in the fields of economic and workforce development.

After retirement, she began volunteering for Republican campaigns. She worked for Bush/Cheney in ’04 and Win Rockefeller in ’06. After Rockefeller’s death, many former supporters were only half-hearted supporters of Hutchinson. Jane, though, immediately went to work for her former opponent. “I never understood people who hold silly grudges,” she told me.

In 2008, while on family vacation, Gilbert Baker called and asked her to run for the Legislature. She won a seat considered to be a Democrat stronghold, against a top-tier opponent. Most didn’t think she would win.

A solid conservative vote, she opposed the tobacco tax increase in 2009 and voted against the Private Option in 2013. In 2015, Jane sponsored and passed the most aggressive workforce development reforms in the state’s history.

She has strong views, but has avoided the personality conflicts that many legislators (usually the men) allow to cloud their judgment.

Despite that, Jane has always been a target. She moved from the House to the Senate, despite the Democrats’ best efforts. They drew a partisan legislative map that moved her out of the district of then Sen. Mary Ann Salmon. Former Rep. Barry Hyde was their preferred successor. Many suspected Jane might run, so an attempt was made to clear her as an obstacle.

Instead, she and Don sold their house of 30 years, rented an apartment in the new district, and ran as planned. Many discouraged her from upending her life for the gamble of a Senate race in a Democratic-leaning district. She didn’t seem to hesitate. “It just wasn’t right for the people of North Little Rock to not have a choice,” she said. The race was won by 288 votes.

Then, perhaps not completely on purpose but slightly so, she and Don built a home directly across the street from Vince Insalaco, the state Democratic Party Chairman and a major opponent. She’s now his senator, and proud of it. She can tell you the number of fundraisers he held at his house in the 2014 cycle, and do it smiling.

Her path to the Senate simply highlights one of Jane’s most defining traits: there’s always a clear and fair process to reaching a conclusion, and once it’s reached, it won’t change. She’s head-strong, but it’s never without a point, and you’ll always have a chance to convince her of your side.

In 2016, Jane already has an announced Democratic opponent, and will likely face a primary challenger as well. At lunch, I asked her how she felt about it all. “Excited” was her answer. I told her what some cheap-seat conservatives will say about her on Twitter and blogs. She just responded with an “oh my,” but then added she was glad Don doesn’t read Twitter. There are a few who should hope he never starts.

In the meantime, I expect Senator English will keep championing causes like reforming workforce spending and cutting the income tax. She brought multiple handouts to our lunch full of charts on Arkansas’ need for more professionally licensed labor. Even after the checks came, she kept going over each one.

Finally, I asked – as politely as I could – if she’d thought about not running again. She laughed and said no. “75 is only a number, just like 23,” she smiled and said.

She’s accomplished more than most in the past eight years. I wouldn’t want to be standing in her way now.