LITTLE ROCK — U.S. Rep. Marion Berry will announce his retirement from Congress today, two sources close to the seven-term Democrat said Sunday.
Berry, 67, won the seat in 1996 and has held it since. His announcement surprised even close supporters and party officials, many of whom said recently that he would definitely run for an eighth term.
“I guess I got a lot of crow to eat. And so do a whole lot of other people,” said Benton Smith on Sunday. Smith, the Craighead County Democratic chairman, had “guaranteed” that Berry would run for his eighth term in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Thursday.
Sources, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, said Berry informed his staff of his decision Sunday afternoon. A formal announcement is expected today.
Berry, of Gillett, couldn’t be reached for comment late Sunday. The sources said he will finish his term, which ends in January 2011.
Berry’s departure from the 1st Congressional District seat, which has been held by Democrats since Reconstruction, throws open what is thought by political analysts to be a potentially crowded field for both the May primary and November general elections.
State Sen. Robert Thompson, D-Paragould, said he was surprised and sorry to hear that Berry would be stepping down.
Asked whether he’s considering a run for the seat, Thompson said late Sunday, “I’m thinking about it.”
Republican Rick Crawford, a Jonesboro broadcaster, is the only announced candidate. Crawford didn’t return a call to his campaign office late Sunday.
As late as Thursday, county Democratic chairmen across the 1st District didn’t know about Berry’s plans.
“If Congressman Berry ran a campaign, he would have won,” said Marion “Tony”Thompson of Batesville, the Independence County Democratic chairman, on Sunday. “I’m very sad. Particularly with the events in Massachusetts. Whatever the reasons are, and I don’t know what they are, I can’t believe it’s because of the loss in Massachusetts. He’s a fighter. Everybody who knows him knows he doesn’t back down.
“I feel like I got kicked in the stomach,” Thompson said.
On Tuesday, Republican Scott Brown defeated Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, a Democrat, for the U.S. Senate seat held for decades by Edward Kennedy. The upset has emboldened Republicans and led to finger pointing among Democrats, with midterm congressional elections less than 10 months away.
National Republican party officials reacted with glee to reports of Berry’s departure.
“I think this is yet another indication that the big government agenda is absolutely toxic in Arkansas on the heels of Vic Snyder’s retirement. I think Congressman Berry’s retirement is confirmation of what we already knew: Any Democrat running for federal office is going to be running uphill,” said Andy Sere, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
State Democrats replied that out-of-state Republicans ought to take a look at the district’s track record before making any bold predictions.
“A Republican hasn’t led Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District since Reconstruction. This is a solid Democratic district. We have a strong field of potential candidates who know how to run for office and win,” said Mariah Hatta, executive director of the state Democratic Party.
Thompson, the Independence County Democratic chief, said he thought state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel would be the best candidate. McDaniel told the Democrat-Gazette on Friday that he supported Berry and hoped he would run for re-election. McDaniel said then that, regardless of Berry’s decision, he wouldn’t be running for Congress in 2010. He said he planned to run for re-election for attorney general instead.
A potential front-runner if he decided to run, McDaniel is widely expected to run for governor in 2014.
Other Democrats said by multiple sources to have an interest in the seat are state Rep. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis; Berry’s Chief of Staff Chad Causey of Jonesboro; former state Democratic Party chairman Jason Willett of Jonesboro; Treasurer Martha Shoffner of Newport; and former House Speaker Benny Petrus of Stuttgart.
On the Republican side, state Rep. Davy Carter, RCabot, has been mentioned by two sources as a likely candidate, perhaps announcing as early as this week.
Berry’s decision comes on the heels of the announced retirement of U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, a Democrat from Little Rock, earlier this month. So far, state Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, is the only announced Democratic candidate. Tim Griffin of Little Rock, a former U.S. attorney and Bush administration official, leads in polling and fundraising among several announced Republicans. The other Republicans are David Meeks ofConway and Scott Wallace of Little Rock.
Berry expressed frustration with President Barack Obama’s administration in a Democrat-Gazette story Sunday, saying White House officials ignored reservations about the president’s health-care overhaul and other bills unpopular with voters back home.
Obama advisers dismissed warnings that they were repeating the same mistakes on health care that were made by the Clinton administration in 1993-94, Berry suggested.
“They just kept telling us how good it was going to be.The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.”
In the 2008 general election - in which Berry ran unopposed - Obama captured just over 38 percent of the vote in the 1st Congressional District, losing to Sen. John McCain, RAriz., by more than 20 points.
The 1st Congressional District covers 26 counties in eastern Arkansas, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Missouri border and reaching as far west as Searcy County.
Smith, the Craighead County party chairman, said he expected the seat to remain Democratic, but said he had fielded calls all day from saddened Democrats.
“Congressman Berry is such a wonderful leader and he represented us with class and dignity,” Smith said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/25/2010