Notes from the Campaign Trail: Money, guns and remembering a political legend

Editor’s note: Notes from the Campaign Trail is a compilation of various political insider tidbits and is sponsored by Capitol Advisors Group.
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U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers’ memorial service
Former Arkansas Senator and Gov. Dale Bumpers, who died over the weekend at the age of 90, will be memorialized at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 10, at First United Methodist Church in downtown Little Rock. Expect a who’s who of political elites to be on hand as Bumpers’ service touched nearly every major politician – Democrat and Republican – since the 1970’s. National media pundits have speculated that Vice President Joe Biden, a colleague of Bumpers in the U.S. Senate, may come to town.

Alice Stewart leaves Huckabee for a Cruz
Former longtime Huckabee advisor Alice Stewart left his Presidential campaign staff over the holidays in a high-profile departure. Not much was said at the time, but Stewart has confirmed she will be a senior advisor to GOP Presidential competitor Ted Cruz, the Texas senator. Cruz is polling high in Iowa and South Carolina and is expected to do well on Tuesday, March 1 – the SEC primary.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio adds more Arkansas endorsements
Another GOP Presidential candidate with building momentum, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, rolled a list of Arkansas endorsements out two weeks ago that included about a dozen Arkansas lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Ken Bragg, Sen. Majority Leader Jim Hendren, and State Rep. & House Majority Whip Jim Dotson. Add two more endorsements to the list: GOP Reps. Jana Della Rosa and David Meeks.

Conner’s New Year push
There were a flurry of final day fundraising emails from Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful, Conner Eldridge. The former U.S. prosecutor for the Western District of Arkansas will face incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman, barring a major upset from GOP challenger Curtis Coleman. Libertarian Frank Gilbert will be on the general election ballot, too.

Eldridge and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, sent several solicitation emails before the end of the quarter deadline (Dec. 31, 2015), but most notably were emails from James Carville. The Ragin’ Cajun wrote: “At the recent Battle of the Boot game in Baton Rouge, a lot of Razorbacks asked me about the Arkansas Senate race, and I always told them the same thing: John Boozman’s approval rating is pitiful and Conner Eldridge will win, but he can’t do it alone … Conner has the message to win, but he needs your help to spread it past the slander coming from his opposition.”

Curtis Coleman and guns, NEA
Boozman’s primary challenger, Curtis Coleman, will have a presence in Northeast Arkansas next week. On Friday, Jan. 15, Coleman is slated to speak to the NEA Political Animals Club at noon at the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce. Coleman will likely tout his most recent campaign release related to guns, the Second Amendment, and President Obama’s soon-to-released executive orders on the subject.

“The Second Amendment expressly guarantees that Americans have the right ‘to keep and bear arms.’ Those words mean ‘own and carry firearms’, and the Second Amendment further guarantees that these rights ‘shall not be infringed.’ The President’s proposed actions would undeniably constitute infringements of that guarantee,” Coleman said.