Notes from the Campaign Trail: Courtney Goodson lines up Arkansas Bar support

In advance of this week’s Arkansas Bar Association annual meeting in Hot Springs, Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson is lining up significant support.

Goodson led the ticket in a three-person field for her high court seat. She faces challenger David Sterling in a November runoff that will coincide with the general election.

On Wednesday, there will be a big fundraising reception for Goodson at the Hotel Hot Springs lobby that includes a number of notables including: Woody Bassett, Will Bond, Mary Broadaway, Paul Byrd, Bob Cearley, JaNan Arnold Davis, Tim Dudley, Bob Edwards, Kelly Eichler, Scott Ellington, Steve Engstrom, Cliff Gibson, Steve Harrelson, Jim Hathaway, Sam Hilburn, Cliff Hoffman, Lauren Hoover, Ashley Hudson, Mike Kinard, Sam Ledbetter, Michael Langley, Rick Massey, Richard Mays, Bobby McDaniel, Bruce McMath, Molly McGowan McNulty, Pat O’Brien, Bobby Odom, Jeff Rosenzweig, Sylvester Smith, Alex Streett, Robert Thompson, David Williams and more.

All told, the reception host list includes 285 people.

TUCKER RESPONDS TO HILL, GOP ATTACKS
Second District Democratic Congressional nominee Clarke Tucker has been under fire from his general election opponent, Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock, and Republican-aligned groups, including Sen. Tom Cotton’s political PAC.

The GOP strategy early on is to tie Tucker to unpopular House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who could become Speaker if Democrats take back the majority this fall. Tucker has said he supports new leadership in both political parties in D.C.

On Wednesday, Tucker’s campaign rolled out a new broadcast and digital strategy to combat the Pelosi message. His campaign has a new 30-second video that will air on all four major broadcast stations in central Arkansas, as well as digital and social media platforms “for the foreseeable future,” the campaign said.

“If Congressman Hill starts his campaign by attacking me with a tired Washington talking point that he knows isn’t true, what does that tell you about his record?” Tucker said. “This race is not about national politicians, it’s about our families and our future here in Arkansas. That’s been my focus in the state legislature the last four years, that’s our focus in this campaign, and that will be my priority in U.S. Congress. No more politics of the past.”

You can watch the video below.

HENDERSON OFFERS ETHICS PLAN
Jared Henderson, the Democratic nominee for Arkansas governor, rolled out a five-point ethics plan on Monday in the wake of recent developments involving public corruption at the state capitol.

“This past week was a low point following a period of pervasive political corruption infecting our state government,” Henderson said. “Silence is not leadership. We must expect more and demand our leaders stand up to all wrongdoings with courage and integrity. Arkansans deserve meaningful action to root out corruption without regard to party.”

“My new proposal sets out to combat public corruption and restore Arkansans’ confidence in state government,” Henderson added. “Regardless of when these breaches occurred, taking steps to prevent further incidents is the responsibility of our current leaders. That’s why, in the absence of leadership, I am introducing five proposals to try to prevent further corruption.”

His plan includes:

1) Revoking public official pensions for abuse of power;
2) Strengthening the Arkansas Ethics Commission through more investigatory and enforcement resources;
3) Restricting legislators becoming lobbyists by matching the waiting period to the number of years served;
4) Prohibiting corporations from contributing to political action committees; and
5) Disclosure of dark money in advertising.

COTTON OKAY WITH NORTH KOREA STANCE
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has President Donald Trump’s back on his approach to North Korea. Cotton appeared on the Hugh Hewitt national radio show on Tuesday and offered up this response to a question on Trump’s meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

Hugh Hewitt: To the people who are declaring, [sic], Senator Cotton, that Donald Trump gave away too much with the flags and the handshake, what’s your response?

Senator Cotton: There is a school of thought that the United States should not sit down, that the United States president should not sit down with two-bit dictators. I think there’s some validity to that school of thought with the exception once those dictators have nuclear weapons. You know, countries like Iran and Cuba and other two-bit rogue regimes don’t have nuclear weapons, yet. They can’t threaten the United States in that way. Once North Korea had nuclear weapons, once they have missiles that can deliver them to us, I would liken it to past presidents sitting down with Soviet dictators. It’s not something that we should celebrate. It’s not a pretty sight. But it’s a necessary part of the job to try to protect Americans from a terrible threat.

Cotton said that time will tell if Kim is up to his old tricks or if he follows through with his promise to denuclearize in a “verifiable and irreversible” way.

CANDIDATE LIST UPDATED
Although the primaries are mostly over – there are still a handful of runoffs on Tuesday, June 19 – a deadline for independent candidates to file for federal and state offices led to a few changes in “The Candidate List” we host.

You can find the latest, most updated list of candidates for Arkansas federal, state and legislative office at this link.

Editor’s note: ‘Notes from the Campaign Trail’ is a compilation of various political insider tidbits. It is sponsored by Campbell Ward Consulting|Communications.