U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin said Wednesday that he’s seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor this year and he wants to use his experience and knowledge to help Arkansas create jobs and restore Arkansans’ trust in the office.
The Little Rock Republican said he also wants to use his experience on Capitol Hill and at the White House to be “a resource” for the governor and the Legislature in dealing with the federal government.
“I think that’s important to be a resource … and to be part of a team,” Griffin said.
Griffin has been widely expected in political circles to join the lieutenant governor’s race for the past week.
A week ago, he said he was considering seeking the post - less than a month after he said he wasn’t planning to run - because numerous people, including state Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock, subsequently encouraged him to do so.
On Wednesday, Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers, also said she’ll seek her party’s nomination for lieutenant governor, and said she would withdraw as a candidate for governor.
Hobbs said she originally sought the top job to help Arkansans but she’s realized that she didn’t have to be governor to achieve her goals of making government accessible, getting people to make the transition from “government dependency to self-sufficiency” and boosting college and career readiness.
Reps. Andy Mayberry of East End and Charlie Collins of Fayetteville also are seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Mayberry said he intends to remain in the race, while Collins said he’ll re-evaluate his decision.
Former state Highway Commissioner John Burkhalter, a Little Rock businessman, is the lone Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.
Asked why he’s the best choice, Griffin said he’s uniquely qualified: He has been a White House aide, a federal prosecutor, a member of Congress and a small-business owner.
The lieutenant governor’s post has been vacant since Mark Darr, a Republican from Springdale, stepped down Feb. 1, more than a month after the state Ethics Commission fined him $11,000 for 11violations of state ethics laws and regulations.
The entire state congressional delegation and Gov. Mike Beebe urged Darr to step down after he received the largest penalty in Ethics Commission history. The resignation followed threats of impeachment from some state lawmakers.
Legislative leaders and Beebe said they expect to enact legislation in the ongoing fiscal session to forgo a special election to fill the vacancy. A regular election is scheduled for Nov. 4.
The lieutenant governor’s primary duties are to preside over the Senate when it’s in session and to act as governor when the governor is outside the state.
The lieutenant governor’s salary is $41,896 a year. The office has four employees.
Griffin is a former aide to President George W. Bush, a former interim U.S. attorney and a former research director for the National Republican Committee, who has been a staunch critic of President Barack Obama. He was elected to the 2nd Congressional District seat in 2010, defeating state Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock. He won a second term, defeating Democrat Herb Rule a Little Rock lawyer in 2012.
The congressman announced Oct. 21 that he wouldn’t seek a third term in Congress, saying he’s leaving Washington to focus on raising his two young children. At that time, he expressed no interest in the lieutenant governor’s post.
Griffin said Wednesday that his decision to leave Congress and his decision to campaign for statewide office were not linked nor close in time.
“I am running for lieutenant governor because I want to serve, and this will allow me to serve in Arkansas, where I can watch my 3-yearold and 6-year-old grow,” he said.
He said he’s not “finalized my full-time job plans and won’t until late in my House term due to House ethics rules.”
Griffin said, “We need to restore trust in the office [because] that has taken a hit with recent events.”
He said he wants to cut the office’s number of employees in half. Two workers are enough to answer phones, handle mail and do other things, and the cut will save “significant resources,” depending on the seniority of the staff, he said.
Griffin said he would continue to drive his own truck and won’t ask the Arkansas State Police to provide him transportation, because it has better things to do with its resources.
He said he wants to use his experience on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, in the White House and from 18 years in the Army to act as “a resource for the Legislature and the governor if they ask” in dealing with the federal government.
Griffin said his top focus would be to help Arkansas compete and create jobs.
The House Ways and Means Committee’s jurisdiction includes trade and taxes, and “I can bring insight in those areas back to the state to help grow jobs,” and compete with other states, he said.
“I want to be a vocal advocate,” for, for example, changing the state’s tax structure to make it more competitive with neighboring states, Griffin said.
Last year, Mayberry and Collins voted to authorize the use of federal funds to purchase private health insurance for poor Arkansans, while Hobbs voted against funding the so-called private option. Burkhalter, the Democratic lieutenant governor candidate, said he favors the private option.
Griffin said he opposed the private option last year and, “with the information I have right now, I would oppose it.
“I want to be thoughtful about it [but] it would take significant information that I do not have for me to change my mind,” he said, adding he’s seeking information from both proponents and opponents.
Hobbs’ departure from the governor’s office leaves former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson of Rogers and businessman Curtis Coleman of Little Rock as the two Republican gubernatorial candidates in the race and former U.S. Rep. Mike Ross of Little Rock as the lone Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
Hobbs is serving her third term in the House and is barred from seeking re-election to the House under the state’s term-limits amendment.
When asked about running against Griffin, Hobbs said, “I think that’s the reason we have primaries, for the voters to decide who will represent them the best.”
Bryan Griffith, a spokesman for Burkhalter, said Griffin is “simply looking for his next job in politics. … The last thing Arkansas needs is another Washington politician like Tim Griffin bringing his record of divisive politics, dysfunction and gridlock to Arkansas.” Information for this article was contributed by Sean Beherec of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/13/2014