Arkansan returning with eye on election

Gingrich backs Smith in House race

— Princella Smith, who hopes to become the first black Republican woman elected to Congress, is moving back to Arkansas this week in preparation to run for the 1st Congressional District seat.

Smith, 26, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that Friday would be her last day as press secretary for U.S. Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, RLa.

She has a powerful supporter. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday that he would “do almost anything I could to be helpful to her.”

“It’s quitea jump for her. It’s quite a challenge,” said Gingrich, who added that he “admired her audacity.”

Smith worked for Gin-grich at his conservative American Solutions political advocacy group. The former Georgia congressman said she “is enormously talented ... [someone] who could grow into a great leader.”

If Smith does run, it would be groundbreaking, said Arkansas political scientists. She would be the first black women to run as a Republican for a congressional seat in the state.

No black person has ever represented the state in Congress. Democratic State. Sen. Joyce Elliott, who is black, is a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District.

The announced retirements this month of Rep. Marion Berry in the 1st District and Rep. Vic Snyder in the 2nd District opened spots for both women to run.

In 2000, former state Rep. Judy Smith, D-Camden, who is black, lost to Rep. Mike Ross in the 4th Congressional District’s Democratic primary. Ross beat incumbent Republican Jay Dickey later that year.

The ice storm disrupted Smith’s plans to drive from Washington, D.C., to her hometown of Wynne in Cross County this weekend, she told the newspaper Friday. She will move back sometime next week.

Barely old enough to run for the seat under the U.S. Constitution, Smith is already considered a rising star among many national Republicans.

Smith spoke at the Republican Convention in 2004 after winning MTV’s “Stand Up and Holla” contest. She has interned with former-Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller and directed the campaign for Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele when he ran, unsuccessfully, for governor in Maryland.

But she’ll stress her Arkansas roots more than her history-making potential, she said.

“I’m not trying to make this into a national fight,” Smith said in a phone interview. “It’s not about making this larger than life.”

Smith said she has “not been shy” about her interest in representing the 26-county district, which covers primarily northeastern Arkansas, south to Phillips County and west to Searcy County.

When Berry announced his retirement Monday, Smith said she decided to move back to the state, form an exploratory committee and start a listening tour.

Jonesboro Republican Rick Crawford, 44, an agricultural radio broadcaster, has already announced. StateSen. Johnny Key of Mountain Home said earlier this week that he is seriously considering jumping into the Republican primary.

Several Democrats, including Berry’s Chief of Staff Chad Causey of Jonesboro, state Sens. Robert Thompson of Paragould and Steve Bryles of Blytheville, former state Sen. Tim Wooldridge of Paragould, former House Speaker Benny Petrus of Stuttgart, former state Democratic Party chairman Jason Willett of Jonesboro, and state Reps. Keith Ingram of West Memphis and David Dunn of Forrest City, have said they are considering the race.

Green Party candidate and Batesville native Kenton Adler, a Lyons College employee, is also in the race.

Smith’s family has lived in the Wynne area for generations. Her father is a pastor and her mother works for the school district.

After Smith was elected governor of Girls State, she attracted the notice of Huckabee, whom she calls a political mentor.

Several weeks ago, Huckabee endorsed Crawford. An advertisement on Crawford’s Web site features Huckabee after Berry’s retirement announcement, reiterating his support for the candidate.

Huckabee didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“I have an intense amount of admiration for Gov. Huckabee, particularly the way he connects with minorities,” Smith said.

Connecting with blacks, who make up 17 percent of the district, is a strength of her own, Smith said, based on her “commonality of experience.”

And her conservatism will appeal to Republicans, she said.

“I happen to tap into both,” she said.

Smith represents a “new generation of younger leaders, ready to break out of the mold,” Gingrich said.

Mariah Hatta, executive director of the state Democratic Party, said Smith’s campaign makes for “interesting statistics” but won’t influence the party’s strategy.

Democrats will have candidates who “have run and won” campaigns before, Hatta said.

Smith’s run as a black woman Republican in a Delta Democratic district is likely to draw national attention, Art English of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock said in a telephone interview.

“Nothing could be lost for her or the party. If she wins, all to the good for Republicans. If she doesn’t, they can say, ‘Here’s Arkansas. Look at the change we have.’”

English paused, then chuckled.

“Change we can believe in.”

Front Section, Pages 11 on 01/30/2010

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