Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross to be his successor Saturday, saying that Ross would build on the state’s progress made over the past several years.
Also Saturday, candidates for the state’s top two executive offices weighed in on whether state Sen. Paul Bookout, D-Jonesboro, should resign after the Arkansas Ethics Commission ruled he violated state ethics laws.
Ross is the lone 2014 Democratic candidate for governor, after former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter of North Little Rock pulled out of the race last month. Ross is the state’s former 4th District congressman and now resides in Little Rock.
Attorney and former 3rd District Rep. Asa Hutchinson of Rogers, state Rep. Debra Hobbs of Rogers and businessman Curtis Coleman of Little Rock are seeking the Republican nomination for governor.
Beebe’s predecessor - Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee - endorsed Hutchinson to be his successor in August 2005, after Republican Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller dropped out of the race for health reasons. Beebe defeated Hutchinson to win the governor’s race in November 2006 and won re-election in 2010. Beebe is barred from seeking re-election under the state’s term-limits amendment.
Beebe, who served with Ross in the state Senate from 1991-2001, said Ross has always been known “as somebody who would knock down a door that needed to be knocked down to take care of the people that elected him.”
In front of more than 100 people on the front steps of the state Capitol in Little Rock, Beebe introduced Ross as the state’s next governor.
Beebe told the crowd that if the state is going to continue prioritizing education and economic development, building on its progress and understanding its obligation to “take care of those less fortunate than ourselves,” and “do this together across party lines and do it in a way that is constructive the way the Founding Fathers meant, then this is the man that knows how to get that done.”
Ross said Arkansas is too small a state to become “a mini-Washington, D.C.”
“I will bring Democrats and Republicans together to strengthen education, create more good-paying jobs and make targeted tax cuts that help working families, and we will do all this in a fiscally responsible manner that continues to balance our budget,” he said.
But a spokesman for the state Republican Party said no one should be surprised that the state’s Democratic governor is endorsing the Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
“Arkansas voters are smart, and they are not going to base their decision on who to support off of the opinion of one person,” said David Ray, communications director for the state GOP.
Seven of the nation’s top 10 states for creating jobs have Republican governors, and seven of the nation’s 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates also have Republican governors, he said.
“That’s why it is important that we elect a Republican governor in 2014 so we can provide tax relief for working Arkansas families and grow jobs for our state,” Ray said.
DEBATE OVER BOOKOUT
Beebe’s endorsement of Ross came a day after the Arkansas Ethics Commission levied an $8,000 fine against Bookout for four violations of state ethics laws.
Among other things, the commission said Bookout transferred more than $18,000 of his campaign funds into his personal bank account and withdrew an additional $6,760 in cash from his campaign account. Bookout also used more than $8,000 in campaign funds tobuy and install home-theater equipment and more than $5,000 in campaign donations to buy women’s clothing and accessories, according to the commission.
Bookout said Friday that he would be reimbursing his campaign about $49,000 and “repaying contributors pro rate during the next 30 days.” He said he would not resign and would serve out his final term in the Senate through January 2017.
Lieutenant governor candidate Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, late Friday night called for Bookout’s resignation on Twitter.
“From my read of the ethics commission conclusion and Sen. Bookout’s acceptance of this conclusion, he has clearly, repeatedly, and purposefully used campaign contributions for personal gain,” Collins said Saturday in a written statement. “That means he embezzled money.
“This behavior is wrong and it destroys the public trust in elected officials. I cannot sit by and allow an elected Arkansas legislator to violate the public trust and tarnish the reputation of the institution this way, without calling for his resignation,” Collins said.
Democratic lieutenant governor candidate John Burkhalter of Little Rock on Saturday declined to comment through a spokesman about whether Bookout should resign.
The lieutenant governor presides over the state Senate and serves as acting governor when the governor is out of the state.
Ross, who served in the state Senate with Bookout’s late father, Jerry Bookout, said the commission “was right to fine” Paul Bookoutand that the senator “was right to announce that he is going to refund that money.”
Ross said he’s going to reserve judgment on whether Bookout should resign until a prosecutor completes reviewing Bookout’s case.
“This is different than where Martha Shoffner is drug off in handcuffs by the FBI,” Ross said, referring to the former state Democratic treasurer from Newport, who resigned from office May 21.
A federal grand jury handed up an indictment in June charging Shoffner with extortion and bribery over allegations she accepted $36,000 in payments from an unnamed broker to whom she handed over the lion’s share of the state’s bond business. She has pleaded innocent to six counts of extortion, one count of attempted extortion and seven counts of accepting a bribe as an agent of state government. Her trial is set for March 3.
“There have been no criminal charges filed [against Bookout] yet, and we have a process. Let’s let it work,” Ross said.
Hutchinson said his “inclination” is that Bookout should resign, but a prosecutor should first review the commission’s findings regarding Bookout.
Coleman said in a written statement that Bookout should do the right thing and resign “given the revelation of Senator Bookout’s violations of Arkansas campaign law and the severity of his violations.”
Hobbs added, “If [Bookout] has any integrity left, he should resign.”
Bookout could not be reached by telephone for comment on Saturday afternoon.
Arkansas, Pages 15 on 08/18/2013