LITTLE ROCK — Voter turnout in Tuesday's party primaries and nonpartisan judicial election is expected to be light, so candidates say they're working hard to make sure their supporters don't forget to go to the polls.
"We really anticipate turnout to be very, very low," said Darrin Williams of Little Rock, a candidate in the Democratic primary for House District 36. "So every vote counts. We're pushing people to the polls. A lot of people are just not tuned in to the election."
No contested statewide or congressional races appear on the ballot Tuesday to prod a high percentage of the state's 1.6 million registered voters to go to the polls.
Highlighting ballots in thestate are three contested state Senate primaries, each on the Democratic side. Among House races, 15 are contested among Democrats, nine among Republicans. There are three Court of Appeals contests. Twenty-two circuit court seats are contested. Also, local district judgeships and county races are on the ballot.
Court of Appeals Judge Wendell Griffen is in a battle against challenger Rita Gruber, a circuit judge in Pulaski County, for Position 1 in District 6. The Court of Appeals is the state's secondhighest court.
Among the Senate races, state Sen. Irma Hunter Brown, D-Little Rock, is facing a wellfinanced challenge from former state Rep. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, in District 33.
Unlike previous party primaries in presidential election years, the presidential race isn't on the ballot. In 2005, the Legislature set up a separate presidential primary Feb. 5 in hopes of giving Arkansas more sway in who gets the presidential nomination.
But that didn't work out as anticipated. Arkansas received little attention in February because many other states also moved their primaries to the date. Now the presidential nomination on the Democratic side remains undecided between U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.
Bill Vickery of Little Rock, a political consultant who generally represents Republican candidates, said the Arkansas primary "would be a bigger deal nationally" if the presidential race was on the ballot Tuesday.
He said it would give Clinton a much-needed win (she won on Feb. 5) to boost momentum heading into the party convention.
But Vickery didn't fault the Legislature for setting up the earlier presidential primary.
"Conventional wisdom was [the presidential nominations] would have been over by now," Vickery said. "This year is like a 100-year flood. It's rare for the [presidential] primary where two people battle until the end."
Vickery said if the presidential race were on the ballot, Tuesday turnout numbers would be higher on the Democratic side, and Griffen said he thinks they would have also increased onthe Republican side.
"Probably [former Arkansas Gov.] Mike Huckabee would still be in the race for no other reason than just to make sure that Arkansas had a chance to cast a ballot for the home-state candidate," Griffen said.
Turnout in the Feb. 5 presidential primary was 34 percent.
The lowest turnout for party primaries was in 2000 when 19 percent voted (291,473 of 1,527,453 registered voters). In 2002, it was 26 percent (371,334 of 1,455,882), in 2004 22 percent (335,016 of 1,546,277), and 2006 20 percent (334,513 of 1,659,501).
Williams said he expects turnout in his Little Rock district to be only half as much as voted in the presidential primary. He said about 4,400 of the roughly 14,000 registered voters in District 36 voted in the presidential primary. Only about 2,000 may vote this time, he said.
Williams faces Charles King for the open seat for eastern Little Rock and parts of southern Little Rock.
Candidates have been monitoring the number of voters going to the polls for early voting.
"It's a low voter turnout so far in Pulaski County," Gruber said. "There has been outstanding turnout in Saline County. I've worked real hard in Saline County so that's a good thing."
The Court of Appeals seat she seeks covers Pulaski, Saline and Perry counties.
"I don't think [Gruber] or anyone else knows how people voted [in Saline County]," Griffen said. "She knows something nobody else is supposed to know. A large voter turnout in Saline County helps me. The highway to Saline County travels under my vehicle just like hers. I don't think there is a Gruber Special Highway in Saline County that Griffen can't travel."
In another Court of Appeals race, Courtney Henry of Fayetteville faces Ron Williams of Springdale for Position 2 in District 3, which covers Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Madison and Washington counties.
Henry said in a mail piece that Williams undermined judicial ethics rules by hiring former Republican state Sen. Jim Holt of Springdale as a paid consultant. Holt was a lightning rod on social issues as a statewide candidate.
"We must turn out bi-partisan voters who agree with me that there is no room for partisanship, activism or radicalism on the benches of our Arkansas courts," Henry wrote.
Williams responded that he would never resort to such "negative" campaigning for a judicial office.
"When candidates for judicial office begin running their campaigns like typical politicians, judges will end up with the same approval ratings as typical politicians," he said.
The third court of appeals race is for District 7 in southeastern Arkansas between Waymond Brown and Eugene Hunt, both of Pine Bluff. The district covers Arkansas, Chicot, Desha, Jefferson, Lee, Phillips and St. Francis counties.
A relatively noncombative campaign season grew testier as election day got closer.
In Fort Smith, for example, attorney Mark Horoda, challenging Rep. Tracy Pennartz in the District 65 Democratic primary, sent out a campaign mailer last week labeling Pennartz as "Judas!" for voting in favor of a severance tax increase on natural gas that overwhelmingly passed the Legislature with Gov. Mike Beebe's support.
Pennartz has said she voted for the increase because it wouldn't be passed along to gas customers. But Horoda said he thinks companies will find a way somehow to pass along the cost, despite natural gas experts saying otherwise. He said he labeled her as Judas because she "betrayed her constituents."
In the Senate District 33 race, Elliott renewed her criticism of what she described as Brown's vote for a 2005 bill that would have limited Central Arkansas Water's power to protect thewater supply by gaining control over land in the Lake Maumelle watershed. Brown insisted she "protected the watershed" and that Elliott was distorting the record.
Brown voted against the bill, but voted for its emergency clause when the bill cleared the Senate. Elliott contended that a vote for the emergency clause, which allows a bill to take effect more quickly upon becoming law, was essentially a vote for the bill.
"It is like saying I want to protect your life, but at the same time I am supporting the person who has the gun pointed at your head," she said.
Brown replied, "The point is the substance of the issue was not whether I voted for the emergency clause. That's her analogy. I am not dealing with that."
Elliott has raised $89,105, Brown $64,110.
Gov. Mike Beebe was drawn into a flap in the Democratic primary in House District 28 in Saline County between Rep. Lamont Cornwell, D-Benton, and challenger Barbara Nix, a Benton teacher.
A newspaper ad and flier showed Beebe and Cornwell at a reception for Cornwell's re-election. "I'm proud to have the support of Governor Mike Beebe for my re-election," the Cornwell ad said.
Nix questioned the statement.
Cornwell said the ad was intended to show the governor supports his efforts on behalf of the community.
"I would never ask [Beebe] to chose sides," said Cornwell.
Nix said Cornwell was trying to convince voters that he had Beebe's endorsement.
"We are not endorsing any candidate," Beebe said Friday. "I have been supportive of Cornwell and I am supportive of either one of them that wins."
The winner of the primary will face Benton Republican David McCoy in the Nov. 4 general election.
The primaries Tuesday also have some family flavor, with spouses of current or former legislators seeking nominations for at least four legislative seats.
Early voting began May 5.
Polls open Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.
Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline and Laura Kellams of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Front Section, Pages 1, 16 on 05/18/2008