Campaign staff members for Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor said Tuesday that they will remove portions of a campaign video shot on the tornado-damaged property of a Mayflower business owner who said he was misled about the campaign's intentions.
The online video -- which remained on Pryor's campaign website late Tuesday -- shows Mayflower Mayor Randy Holland and other officials talking about Pryor's Republican challenger for the Senate seat, U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, and his absence during Faulkner County tornado cleanup efforts.
Doug Boydston, owner of the Mayflower RV property, sent a letter to Pryor's campaign Tuesday that asked staff members to remove the footage shot on his property, which was destroyed by the April tornado that ripped through three counties and killed 16 people.
Cotton's campaign released the letter shortly after the Pryor campaign received it Tuesday and posted a copy on Cotton's campaign website.
"You obtained this footage under false pretenses and I demand that you remove these videos and immediately stop all use of the raw footage," Boydston wrote in the letter. "Neither you nor any outside group has my permission to use my property for your own gain."
Boydston said in a phone interview Tuesday that Pryor's campaign had called him to ask if the senator could tour the property with his staff, Holland and some other officials. He said the staff member who called him, campaign manager Jeff Weaver, said it appeared that businesses on the other side of Interstate 40 had received more help than Boydston had and that the visit would be focused on surveying the damage and trying to provide help, if possible.
"He asked if he could have permission to use my lot to do a documentary-type coverage," Boydston said. "They told me I didn't have to be there. I told them I was driving back from a business trip, but I'd like to be there if I could make it."
Boydston said he and his family members took to Facebook to invite friends and family to go along on the site visit, meet Pryor and help advocate for their cleanup needs. About two dozen showed up, although Boydston and his son couldn't get back in time despite driving all night.
The day of the visit, Boydston said his wife realized immediately that a campaign ad was planned and that the senator wouldn't be there. She called her husband, then asked the campaign staff to leave, Boydston said.
"I called [Weaver] and asked, 'For what purpose are you really there?'" Boydston said. "'You're there to do a dadgum campaign ad, and if I had known that, I would have told you no,'" he recalled saying.
Erik Dorey, a spokesman for Pryor's campaign, said staff members were upfront about the reason for shooting the video but would remove the footage.
"We will do that as a matter of courtesy, but it should be noted that this is the first time that he has asked us to do so," Dorey said. "I'm sure it's not lost on anyone that the Cotton campaign has this as a way to shift focus away from the mayor's comments about Cotton's conspicuous absence during the tornado relief efforts."
Holland said Tuesday that the Pryor campaign had asked him to be in the video, which was first posted on the campaign website last week.
"I just told them that Mr. Cotton had not come to Mayflower after the tornado," Holland said. "I had two presidents, senators, U.S. senators, congressmen all calling and visiting and showing support. He was not there, and I had not heard from him."
Holland, who is an independent and ran in a nonpartisan election, said he has since talked with Cotton during the town's Fourth of July celebration.
"He said he felt that since it was [U.S. Rep.] Tim Griffin's district, it was better for him to handle the district," Holland said. "I told him I understood that decision, but he is running for a statewide office and I would have appreciated a phone call."
Criticism over disaster relief funding has been a major issue during the campaign so far. Pryor and several Democratic groups have criticized Cotton for voting against funding for superstorm Sandy victims along the East Coast.
In addition to releasing the letter, Cotton's campaign fired back Tuesday with a 30-second television ad featuring Faulkner County Sheriff Andy Shock defending Cotton and mentioning three votes that the freshman representative made to fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"Unlike Sen. Pryor, we have chosen not to politicize this tragedy," Cotton spokesman David Ray said. "The sheriff was on the ground during these storms. His views provide a powerful narrative as to what happened. His message to Sen. Pryor is to stop politicizing this tragedy and to leave their community out of his political campaign."
Dorey said the Cotton ad featuring Shock wasn't truthful because it left out a number of votes Cotton made against replenishing FEMA's coffers after relief for superstorm Sandy victims had been allocated.
"Those are the dollars helping Arkansans rebuild and recover right now, and he voted against all of those dollars," Dorey said.
Ray said Cotton supports funding FEMA through regular appropriations and has voted in favor of that funding during that process.
Information for this article was contributed by Sarah D. Wire of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 07/09/2014